2024-2025 FAFSA Process has Changed

• The number of FAFSA questions will decrease from 108 to 46.  

• A dynamic web form will allow some students to not have to respond to all 46 questions. 
• This streamlined format makes the process easier and less daunting for students and their families. 

In addition to English and Spanish, the 2024-25 application will include the 11 most common languages spoken by English learner students and their parents. 

• Tax information data will be automatically transferred into the application for most students and families.  
• This change makes it easier to complete the FAFSA and reduces the number of questions that need to be answered. 
• All persons on the FAFSA must provide consent for the Department of Education to receive tax information or confirmation of non-filing status directly from the IRS.  

• A contributor is anyone required to provide information on a student’s form (such as a parent/stepparent or spouse). A student’s or parent’s answers on the FAFSA will determine which contributors (if any) will be required to provide information. 
• Contributors will receive an email informing them if they have been identified as someone required to provide information.  
• Contributors must log in using their Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID to provide the required information on the student’s FAFSA. 

• Being a contributor does not mean they are financially responsible for the student’s education costs. However, if identified as a contributor, you must provide information on the FAFSA; otherwise, the application will be considered incomplete and the student will not be eligible for federal student aid. 

• The term Expected Family Contribution (EFC) will now be the Student Aid Index (SAI).  
• This name more accurately describes the number used to determine aid eligibility and, unlike the EFC, the SAI may be a negative number. 

• Previously, the FAFSA calculated the number of household members attending college into the EFC, dividing it proportionately to determine federal aid eligibility.  
• Beginning with the 2024-25 FAFSA, the application will still ask how many household members are in college, but your response will not be calculated into the SAI.  
• Thus, undergraduate UOlivet students with siblings in college may see a change in their federal aid eligibility. 

• Families making less than 175% and single parents making less than 225% of the federal poverty level will see their students receive a maximum Federal Pell Grant award.  
• Minimum Pell Grants will be guaranteed to students from households below 275%, 325%, 350%, or 400% of the poverty level, depending on household structure.  
• Pell awards between the maximum and minimum amounts will be determined by SAI. 

The new FAFSA will require financial information from the parent(s) who provided the most financial support to the student. 

• Families must report the value of their small business or family farm when required.  
• If the family farm includes the principal place of residence, applicants should determine the total net value of all farm assets and subtract the net value of their principal residence to determine the final value of their farm assets.