Great news! The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is being simplified! This means it will be easier than ever to complete the FAFSA. In addition, you may be eligible for more aid than in the past.

The simplified application, available for 2024-2025, will be available December 31, 2023. 

Learn more about the 2024/2025 FAFSA at StudentAid.gov

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1965 to expand Pell Grant eligibility, reduces the number of questions that families will have to answer, and removes outdated restrictions to make federal aid more accessible to all students.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 will not be available until December 2023.
    • 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.

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.