Campus Partners

FAFSA Simplification Act: On Dec. 27, 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act. The law includes provisions that amend the Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act and includes the FAFSA Simplification Act—a sweeping redesign of the processes and systems used to award federal student aid. Specifically, the law makes it easier for students and families to complete and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form and expands access to federal student aid.

In 2020, the FAFSA Simplification Act was enacted into law as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.

• Full implementation of major provisions will occur during the 2024–2025 award year (starting Fall 2024).
• The 2024–2025 FAFSA will be available in December 2023. The exact date has not yet been released by the Department of Education.
• Methodology will be introduced to calculate and determine applicant eligibility with a new need-analysis formula.
• Resources for completing the FAFSA form will be expanded to the 11 most common languages spoken in the United States.

• Contributor: anyone who is asked to provide information on the FAFSA – student, student spouse, parent(s), and stepparent(s) for example.
• Consent: each contributor will now need to provide their consent to their Federal Tax Information (FTI) being included in the FAFSA, even if they did not file a U.S. tax return.
• Family Size: replaces household size.  The family size will be a number from the IRS related to the number of exemptions claimed on the federal tax returns. Note: there will be an option to change that number if it no longer reflects the accurate family size.
• SAI: Student Index Aid (SAI) replaces the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). For more information, watch the new Student Aid Index video.
• Financial Aid Direct Data Exchange: This is the new name for the process of bringing over information from the IRS.  The previous IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) is being retired and replaced by the Direct Data Exchange. For more information watch the Financial Aid Direct Data Exchange video.
• FTI: Federal Tax Information (FTI) transferred directly from the IRS.

• The number of questions on the FAFSA has decreased from over 100 to less than 50.
• The EFC (Expected Family Contribution) is now the Student Aid Index (SAI).
• Students can list up to 20 schools on their FAFSA via the online application.
• Applicants will be asked to report their sex, race, and ethnicity on the FAFSA itself, but students will be offered a choice of “Prefer Not to Answer.” Schools and states won’t see responses to these questions on the FAFSA.
• The Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) has been renamed the Financial Aid Direct Data Exchange
  The Custodial Parent on a student's FAFSA will be the parent who provides them with the most financial support and will no longer be the parent with whom the student lived with the most over the past 12 months.
• Students, spouses, parents, and stepparents will now need to provide their consent in the new Consent to Retrieve and Disclose Federal Tax Information section of the FAFSA for federal student aid eligibility.
• This consent will allow the IRS to share FTI.
• If any party to the FAFSA form does not provide consent, the student will not be eligible for any federal student aid, CA state aid, or CSU aid.

Students and families will see a different measure of their ability to pay for college, and they will 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 -$1,500.
  • Implements separate eligibility determination criteria for Federal Pell Grant.
• Child support received will be included in assets and not as untaxed income.
• Families who own a small business/farm that also serves as primary residence will now have assets of that business/farm considered in their need analysis calculation.