On Jan. 30, 2024, the Department of Education shared that they will delay sharing FAFSA data until March 2024, which means that many universities will be delayed in providing financial aid packages to incoming students causing students to have a reduced amount of time to fully evaluate their colleges before the May 1 deadline.
It's simpler
There will be WAY fewer questions. You can also have your tax info imported directly from the government, instead of entering it all yourself.
There's a name change
EFC will now be known as Student Aid Index (SAI).
The formula is getting updated
The SAI will use a new calculation to determine how much financial aid you qualify for.
8 Key Changes Coming to the 2024–25 FAFSA® Experience
- The 2024–25 FAFSA ® form launched in December 2023. That’s right—the FAFSA form launched Dec. 31, 2023. The federal deadline to submit the 2024–25 FAFSA form will be June 30, 2025. Some states and colleges have their own deadlines for financial aid.
- Anyone who provides information on your FAFSA ® form will be considered a contributor. “Contributor” is a new term on the 2024–25 FAFSA form. It refers to anyone (you, your spouse, your biological or adoptive parent, or your parent’s spouse) who’s asked to provide their information, consent and approval to have their federal tax information transferred automatically from the IRS into the FAFSA form (more on that later), and signature on your FAFSA form.
- Note: Unless they’ve legally adopted you, your grandparents, foster parents, legal guardians, siblings, and aunts and uncles aren’t considered contributors—even if they helped provide for or raise you.
- You must provide consent and approval to be eligible for federal student aid. Both you and your contributors must provide consent and approval to have the IRS transfer your federal tax information into the FAFSA form. Your contributors must provide consent and approval even if they don’t have a Social Security number (SSN), didn’t file a tax return, or filed a tax return outside the U.S. If you or your contributors don’t provide consent and approval, you won’t be eligible for federal student aid.
- You won’t be able to access the FAFSA ® form without a StudentAid.gov account. To start your online 2024–25 FAFSA form, you’ll need to log in to your StudentAid.gov account. If you don’t have one already, you and your contributors will each need to create your own StudentAid.gov accounts to access the online FAFSA form, provide consent and approval, sign, and submit the form.
- The formula used to determine your financial aid eligibility is changing. Your Student Aid Index (SAI) is an index number that’s calculated using the information that you and your contributors provide on the FAFSA form. Your SAI can range anywhere from –1500 to 999999. Note that it is not a dollar amount. The SAI replaces the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) starting in the 2024–25 award year. Once your college, career school, or trade school knows your SAI, they will use it to calculate how much and what types of financial aid you’re eligible to receive.
- You may qualify for additional Federal Pell Grant funds. Good news: Federal Pell Grant eligibility has expanded to more students. Although your SAI may contribute to the formula to determine your Pell Grant eligibility, it’s not the only determining factor. Other information, like family size and federal poverty guidelines, will also be used to determine whether you qualify for a Pell Grant. The maximum Federal Pell Grant award is updated every year. For the 2023–24 award year, the maximum Pell Grant award is $7,395. The maximum Pell Grant award amount for the 2024–25 award year will be announced SOON.
- The Student Aid Report is now the FAFSA Submission Summary. After your FAFSA form is submitted and processed, you’ll receive an email with instructions on how to access an online copy of your FAFSA Submission Summary. The FAFSA Submission Summary replaces the Student Aid Report for the2024–25 award year. The FAFSA Submission Summary has been specifically designed to highlight your eligibility for federal student aid. It will include the answers that you submitted on your FAFSA form (except for any federal tax information that was transferred directly from the IRS), your SAI, and an estimation of the amount of federal student aid that you may be eligible for.
- Your FAFSA Submission Summary is not an aid offer.
- Aid offers will come directly from any schools you’ve listed on your FAFSA form and have been accepted to.
- Delay in colleges receiving your FAFSA. Due to the FAFSA being a new system in 2024-25, colleges will not receive a copy of your FAFSA until sometime in the middle of March 2024. Therefore, colleges will not be making financial aid awards until after that date. Once you have submitted your FAFSA to Studentaid.gov you will not be able to make any corrections until after the middle of March 2024.