2024 - 2025 Financial Aid Changes

Significant changes to the 2024-25 FAFSA form

Several changes are coming with the new form:

• There was a significant reduction in the number of questions in the form from 108 questions to 46 questions. 
• It will allow students to add up to 20 colleges. 
• The FAFSA will be a strictly role-based form. When students log in, they can only access student questions. When a parent or spouse logs in, they will only have access to questions about their role. Only when the final contributor finishes their section will the form be able to be submitted.
• Regardless of whether they file a US tax return, all students, parents, and spouses must check a box that grants the IRS permission to transfer any data they have directly into the FAFSA form. If no information is on file with the IRS, specific codes will be sent indicating that person’s status with the IRS. All contributors providing information on the form must grant permission, or the student will not be eligible for federal student aid.  
• If any contributor to the FAFSA form does not provide consent, submission of the form will still be allowed. However, a Student Aid Index (SAI) will not be calculated, which may lead to an incomplete application.
• Family size will be based on the number of tax exemptions claimed on the tax form(s) transferred into the FAFSA. If the family size has changed since filing the 2022 tax forms, a family size question will allow for reporting the updated family size.
• Child support received has been moved to the asset section of the form and, therefore, will only need to be reported for those families required to report assets. Child support paid out of the household is no longer a question on the form.
• The demographic survey questions regarding race, gender, and ethnicity have been moved to the student demographic section of the form. Students will still have the option to decline to answer the questions. Answers to these questions will not be used to determine aid eligibility, and these responses will not be sent to the state agency or any colleges listed on the form. Parents will not be able to view the answers to these questions, and they will not be included in the FAFSA Submission Summary.
• The Custodial Parent on your FAFSA will be the parent(s) who provided you with more financial support than those parent(s) with whom you lived more during the past 12 months.
• There will be two-step verification, and all FAFSA contributors must have an FSA ID to log into the online form. There will be a new process to get an FSA ID for parents and spouses without a Social Security number.

Prepare for the 2024-2025 FAFSA Application

Create an FSA ID

Students, spouses, parents, and stepparents are now called contributors. All contributors can start creating their FSA ID now through  https://studentaid.gov

Application Status Definitions

The application status will be one of the following:

• Draft:  Your section of the FAFSA form is incomplete.
• In Progress:  You provided your consent, approval, and signature to your section of the FAFSA form, but the FAFSA form has not been submitted yet.
• In Review:  You have submitted your form and your application is still processing.
• Processed:  Your application was processed successfully. No further action is needed.
• Action Required:  Your application requires further action from you or your contributor(s). In some cases, you may need to contact your college or career/trade school to resolve the issue.
• Closed:  Your FAFSA form was never submitted and can no longer be submitted because the federal FAFSA deadline passed.

Changes in Calculating Your Aid Eligibility

The California Dream Act Application allows students interested in attending eligible California colleges, universities, and career education programs to apply for state financial aid. 

The Better CADAA has been enhanced to provide students with a more streamlined financial aid process by incorporating the nonresident tuition exemption form, commonly known as AB 540 affidavit, within the application. Unlike the FAFSA, the CADAA will not require any required contributor (i.e. student spouse, parent, parent spouse), to have a separate login to complete the application. The student will continue to play the central role in the completion of the application. Parent(s) of dependent students will see a more streamlined 1- step parental signature process, without the need to remember the system generated 4-digit Parental PIN. Students will also be presented with more clear help text to guide them through the questions – students can select to automatically display the help text for all questions by enabling the “toggle” button on the screen.