We are excited to announce a simplified Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2024-2025 academic year! This new FAFSA makes applying for financial aid easier than ever and may even increase your eligibility for aid compared to previous years.
Please note: The new FAFSA is currently in a soft launch phase, meaning it may be temporarily unavailable at times while the Department of Education finalizes updates to improve your application experience.
We are committed to keeping you informed. We will continue to provide updates on the FAFSA soft launch and will monitor the situation closely. We encourage you to start your FAFSA application as soon as possible, even if you encounter temporary unavailability due to the soft launch. Your progress will be saved, and you can pick up where you left off when the form becomes available again.
For more information about the new FAFSA and to start your application, please visit the official FAFSA website: Click Here
The FAFSA Simplification Act was created by Congress as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. This law makes critical changes to the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand Pell Grant eligibility, reduces the number of questions that families will have to answer, and removes outdated restrictions to make federal aid more accessible to all students.
You can expect the following changes:
- The 2024-2025 FAFSA determines your financial aid eligibility for the fall 2024, spring 2025, and summer 2025 terms.
- The FAFSA application process will be streamlined and easier for students to complete.
- New terminology will be added to the FAFSA.
- Eligibility for federal financial aid will be expanded.
What will change?
- The FAFSA will be shorter and more user-friendly by reducing questions to just under 50.
- Starting 2024-25, parents and/or spouses who are not U.S. Citizens or Eligible Noncitizens can use their Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to create an FSA ID. They will be able to report their income and tax information on the FAFSA and use their FSA ID account to electronically sign the FAFSA.
- FAFSA form will be expanded to the 11 most common languages spoken in the United States.
What is not changing?
- The FAFSA remains required annually for federal aid consideration and is available to U.S. Citizens or Eligible Non-Citizens.
- FAFSA will still request prior-prior year tax information. Families that had significant reduction in income due to extenuating circumstances can still request special circumstances review.
- Most undergraduate students under the age of 24 will need parent information on the FAFSA. The dependency determination questions are not changing. If you met a dependency determination in the past, you will continue to do so in the future
- An existing or the creation of an FSA ID
- If under the age of 24 you will need to create an FSA ID for a parent or legal guardian.
- Social Security Number (SSN), legal name, date of birth, and email address
- 2022 federal income tax returns (including all applicable schedules)
- Current bank statements
- Documents showing untaxed income.
Federal Student Aid Webinars
We encourage you to learn more about these changes. Federal Student Aid has released a series on YouTube called Financial Aid Bootcamp. These are related to the recent changes in federal aid, including the changes to the 2024-2025 FAFSA application. You can view these videos here.