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2024-25 FAFSA Changes

How the FAFSA Simplification Act Affects You

Last updated: February 2024

Big changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2024-2025 aid year are here! 

The FAFSA Simplification Act was passed by Congress in 2020 and represents a significant overhaul of the processes and systems used to award federal student aid. This includes the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, the need analysis that determines federal aid eligibility, changes in terminology, and many policies and procedures for schools that participate in federal student aid programs.

2024-2025 FAFSA is now available!

The Department of Education has launched the 2024-2025 FAFSA on Studentaid.gov! Historically, the FAFSA has been available beginning October 1st each year. However, because of significant changes to the application and the rebuild of the FAFSA processing system, the 2024-25 FAFSA was not released until December 31, 2023. 

Students will not receive a Financial Aid Offer from Moravian immediately upon submitting the FAFSA due to federal processing delays. According to the most recent updates from the Department of Education, we expect FAFSAs to be sent out to schools in Mid-March at the earliest. 

The Office of Financial Aid Services will be hosting FAFSA Completion Events on the following dates:

More information about these events will be included in an email sent to students and families. Please be on the lookout for this communication to learn more!

What has changed with the FAFSA?

There are a number of benefits of the FAFSA simplification act, including a more streamlined application process and a better user experience for the FAFSA, expanded eligibility for federal student aid, and reduced barriers for certain student populations (e.g., homeless and unaccompanied youth, incarcerated students, English language learners, and students from low-income backgrounds).

Some fundamental changes include, but are not limited to:

The FAFSA has reduced the maximum number of questions from 108 to 46. Because the FAFSA on the Web is dynamic, some students won't even be presented with all 46 questions. This streamlined format will simplify the application process and make it less daunting for students and their families.

A notable terminology update within the new FAFSA is the replacement of the term Expected Family Contribution (EFC) with 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 down to -1500.

Previously, users had the option to enter their tax information manually or use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. Beginning with 2024-25, 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. In a very small number of cases, students and families will have to enter their tax data manually, but for most, that data will be automatically transferred into the application. This change makes it easier to complete the FAFSA and reduces the number of questions to be answered.

A contributor—a new term being introduced on the 2024-25 FAFSA—refers to anyone who is 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 that they've been identified as such, and will need to log in using their own user FSA ID (or create one if they don’t already have one) 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, but it does mean the contributor must provide information on the FAFSA or the FAFSA will be incomplete and the student will not be eligible for federal student aid.

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 answer will not be calculated into the SAI. As such, current undergraduate MU 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 Grantaward. Eligibility will be based on the student’s dependency status, family size, student and/or parent adjusted gross income (AGI), and state of legal residence. Pell awards between the maximum and minimum amounts will be determined by SAI.

For dependent students, financial information was previously needed from the parent(s) the student had lived with the most in the last 12 months. With the new FAFSA, financial information will be required from the parent(s) who provided the most financial support to the student.

When required, families must now report the value of their small business or family farm. 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.

Contributors without social security numbers can now create an FSA ID; which enables them to sign the FAFSA electronically. If the contributor has a social security number (SSN), that SSN will be used to create the FSA ID. For a contributor without an SSN, there will be a knowledge-based match to validate/authenticate their identity.

Previously, the FAFSA only allowed students to list up to 10 colleges and universities.

In previous years, the FAFSA was only available in English and Spanish. The 2024-25 application has been expanded to include the 11 most common languages spoken by English learner students and their parents.