Student Financial Services

2025-2026 FAFSA Updates

The 2025-2026 FAFSA will not be available for students and contributors to complete until on or about December 1, 2024.

 

In 2020, Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act which incorporated significant changes to federal student financial aid. There are several benefits of the FAFSA Simplification Act, including a more streamlined application process and a better user experience filing the FAFSA, expanded eligibility for federal student aid, and reduced barriers for certain student populations.

 

Terminology Changes:

  • Contributor: anyone who is asked to provide information on the FAFSA such as student, student’s spouse, a biological or adoptive parent(s), and parent’s spouse (stepparent). 
  • Consent: each contributor will now need to provide their consent to release their Federal Tax Information (FTI) being included in the FAFSA, even if they did not file a U.S. tax return. 
  • FTI: Federal Tax Information (FTI) transferred directly from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to the FAFSA. 
  • SAI: the Student Index Aid (SAI) replaced the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC was previously used to calculate the amount a family could contribute to a student’s education and determine aid eligibility. The SAI is now based on an actual index of the federal poverty level guidelines.

Other Important Changes:

  • All "contributors" must provide financial information. If any contributor does not provide consent, the Student Aid Index (SAI) will not be calculated, and we will not be able to determine your eligibility for financial aid.
  • The parent responsible for submitting the FAFSA in cases of divorce or separation has changed:
    • For students whose parents are divorced or separated, the parent on your FAFSA will be the parent who provides you with the most financial support and will no longer be the parent with whom you lived with the most over the past 12 months. (If the parent contributor is remarried, stepparent information will also need to be included on the FAFSA.) Students will be able to use the "Who Is My FAFSA Parent?" tool to determine who should be listed as a contributor on the FAFSA.
  • All who are providing information on the FAFSA (contributors i.e. students, spouses, parent(s) and stepparents) must obtain an Federal Student Aid Identification (FSA ID).  The FSA ID is necessary to provide consent in the new Consent to Retrieve and Disclose Federal Tax Information section of the FAFSA:
    • This consent will allow the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to share the FTI.
    • If any party does not provide consent, the FAFSA will be considered incomplete and the Student Aid Index (SAI) will not be calculated.
    • Couples who had a tax return filing status of married filing jointly are only required to have one parent as the contributor.
  • The number of questions on the FAFSA has been reduced from 106 questions to 36 questions.
  • Students can list up to 20 colleges on their FAFSA.

How to Prepare for the 2025-2026 FAFSA:

  1. All FAFSA contributors are required to create a StudentAid.gov account (if you don’t already have one) to obtain a FSA ID. 
  2. Learn about the documents you may need to fill out the FAFSA form.
  3. Determine the student's dependency status and whether your parent(s) or spouse will be required to contribute information on your FAFSA form.
  4. If you’re a dependent student, use the "Who Is My FAFSA Parent?" tool to identify which parent(s) will be a required contributor on your FAFSA.
  5. The Federal Student Aid Estimator provides an estimate of how much federal student aid you may be eligible to receive. Estimates are based on your Student Aid Index (SAI) from the FAFSA.
  6. Check the FAFSA website on or about December 1, 2024 to submit your 2025-2026 FAFSA.
  7. The FAFSA Help Center provides answers to frequently asked questions.