FAFSA Simplification Act - What You Need to Know

18 December 2023

New FAFSA Updates for 2024-2025

There are major changes and improvements coming to the 2024–25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form. This redesigned and streamlined FAFSA form will be available by Dec. 31, 2023.

What You Need To Know Now

The 2024–25 FAFSA form will expand eligibility for federal student aid.
610,000 new students from low-income backgrounds will be eligible to receive Federal Pell Grants due to updates to student aid calculations.
Use the Federal Student Aid Estimator to get an early estimate of what your federal student aid could be after submitting the new form.

The 2024–25 FAFSA form will offer a new, streamlined user experience for students and their families.

Applicants will be able to skip as many as 26 FAFSA questions, depending on their individual circumstances. Some applicants will need to complete as few as 18 questions, taking less than 10 minutes.
Watch the “2024–25 FAFSA FAQs” playlist to better understand what’s changed on the new form.

What You Can Do Now

Didn’t submit a 2023–24 FAFSA form? Make sure to create your StudentAid.gov account—and remember your username and password so you can access and submit the 2024–25 FAFSA form when it’s available.
Find out if your parent(s) or spouse will need to be contributors (contribute their info on your FAFSA form).
If your parent(s) or spouse will need to contribute to your form, make sure each contributor creates their own StudentAid.gov account. Even if a contributor doesn’t have a Social Security number, they will be able to create an account when the 2024–25 form goes live.
Watch the “Preparing for the FAFSA Form” playlist to understand what information and documents you’ll need to fill out the FAFSA form.

Stay Informed

Did you fill out a FAFSA form for 2023–24? Financial Aid is emailing students (and parents of dependent students) who applied on the 2023–24 form, reminding them to apply for 2024–25. To ensure you receive future updates, log in to your StudentAid.gov account and confirm we’ve got your current email address.
Follow Federal Student Aid on social media for resources and announcements—including an alert when the new FAFSA form is available to complete.
- Twitter
- Instagram
- Facebook
- YouTube (Informational Videos)
- YouTube (Educational Webinars)

FAFSA Simplification

What is the FAFSA Simplification Act?

The FAFSA Simplification Act represents a significant overhaul of the processes and systems used to award federal student aid starting with the 2024–25 award year. This includes the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form, need analysis, and many policies and procedures for schools that participate in federal student aid programs.

The law will also affect every state that uses FAFSA data to award state grant aid and every school that participates in the federal student aid programs.

Major changes required by the law include the following:

Replacing the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) With the Student Aid Index (SAI)
Starting with the 2024–25 award year, students and families will see a different measure of their ability to pay for college, and they’ll experience a change in the methodology used to determine aid. The new need analysis formula removes the number of family members in college from the calculation, allows a minimum SAI of -1500, and implements separate eligibility determination criteria for Federal Pell Grants.
Modifications to Family Definitions in FAFSA® Formulas
Expect changes in how a student’s family size is determined aligning more with what was reported on the student/parents tax returns.
Expanding Access to Federal Pell Grants
The FAFSA Simplification Act will expand the Federal Pell Grant to more students and will link eligibility to family size and the federal poverty level (starting with the 2024–25 award year).
Incarcerated students in federal and state penal facilities will regain the ability to receive a Federal Pell Grant (starting with the 2023–24 award year).
Federal Pell Grant lifetime eligibility will be restored to students whose school closed while they were enrolled or if the school is found to have misled the student (starting with the 2023–24 award year).
Streamlining the FAFSA® Form
Where possible, the law mandates that we use data received directly from the IRS to calculate Federal Pell Grant eligibility and the SAI. This data exchange has been made possible by the Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education Act (FUTURE Act), which we’ll implement alongside FAFSA simplification starting with the 2024–25 award year. The FAFSA Simplification Act also removes questions about Selective Service registration and drug convictions. It also adds questions about applicants’ sex, race, and ethnicity, which have no effect on federal student aid eligibility (starting with the 2023–24 award year).

Clarkson College