FAFSA Simplification
Step By Step Completing the 2024-2025 FAFSA provide by THEC/TSAC
Timeline
The following timeline provides an overview of upcoming changes due to the FAFSA Simplification Act. Additional dates will be added as we learn more information.
| Date | Item description |
|---|---|
| Mid-March 2024 | Schools will begin having access to FAFSA records; Students can make corrections on the FAFSA |
Prepare for the FAFSA
The 2024-2025 FAFSA is now available:
- If you don't already have one, create an FSA ID on the and assist contributors, such as your parent(s) or spouse, in creating an FSA ID.
- An FSA ID is an account and password that gives you access to the Federal Student Aid's online system and serves as your electronic signature.
- With the FSA ID, you can fill out the FAFSA when it's available, sign your Master Promissory Note (MPN), apply for repayment plans, complete loan counseling, and use the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Help Tool.
- Complete the FAFSA.
Resources
FAFSA changes for 2024-2025
FAFSA completion date
Instead of opening in October, the 2024-2025 FAFSA will not be available until December 2023. This is only temporary for 2024. After the 2024-2025 aid year, the FAFSA will be available in October as usual.
Streamlined application process
The FAFSA will feature fewer questions, fewer requirements, and retrieve tax information using a direct data exchange from the IRS instead of the previous IRS Data Retrieval Tool.
New terminology and information
- The FAFSA is introducing the new term - "contributor" - which refers to anyone who is required to provide information on a student's FAFSA form, including the student, the student's spouse, a biological or adopted parent, or the parent's spouse. Being a contributor does not imply responsibility for the student's college costs.
- Students will need the contributor's name, date of birth, Social Security Number (SSN), and email address to invite them to complete the required portion of the FAFSA.
- Contributors will need to provide personal and financial information on their section of the FAFSA.
- If your parents are divorced or separated, the contributing parent(s) is the parent (and their spouse, if remarried) who provided the greater portion of your financial support during the 12 months immediately prior to filing the FAFSA. It is not automatically the parent you primarily lived with during the past 12 months.
- All Contributors — student, student's spouse (if married), and student's parents(s) (if a dependent student) — must provide consent to have tax data transferred directly from the IRS to the FAFSA. If consent is not provided by all parties, the student will not be eligible for federal financial aid. In previous years, transferring IRS data was optional. It is now required.
- The need analysis formula to determine financial aid, formerly known as the Expected Family Contribution (EFC), will now be referred to as the Student Aid Index (SAI). Unlike the EFC, the SAI may be a negative number.
- Small businesses and family farms are now considered assets*.
- *The Department of Education will provide more details in the coming months.
- The Student Aid Report (SAR) will now be referred to as the FAFSA Submission Summary. This is the summary submission document you receive after completing the FAFSA.
Expanding Pell Grant eligibility
In a broad sense, the adjustments to the new Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation will expand Federal Pell Grant eligibility to more students.