File the 2024-25 FAFSA
The 2024-25 opens in January 2024
File early to be considered for all available funding at studentaid.gov/fafsa.
The FAFSA Simplification Act expands the Federal Pell Grant to more students and will link eligibility to family size and the federal poverty level (starting with the 2024–25 award year).
Key changes
Fewer questions – the number of questions will be reduced to 36.
Easier to add income and tax information - Students, spouses, and parents will be required to use the IRS Direct Data Exchange (DDX) to retrieve their tax information or non-filing status. For the 2024-25 FAFSA, this will be income and taxes from 2022.
Name change to SAI – the FAFSA will calculate a Student Aid Index (SAI) instead of an Expected Family Contribution [EFC]. The Student Aid Report (SAR) will become the FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS).
More income excluded - larger income protection allowances will exclude more income, which will increase financial aid eligibility.
The number of students a family has enrolled in college will no longer factor into the FAFSA calculation. This decision was made by Congress.
The FAFSA will no longer require these untaxed items: payments to tax-deferred retirement or pension plans, veteran’s non-educational benefits, worker’s compensation.
Parent(s) now will report the following items as assets: net worth of all businesses, net worth of a family farm.
Divorced or separated parent changes - the parent who provided the most financial support in the last calendar year (2022) will need to provide their information on the 2024-25 FAFSA. This is a change from the current FAFSA which asks for the income of the parent the student lived with most in the last year.