Changes for FAFSA 2024-2025

As of 9/8/2023

For those of you who have filled out FAFSA in the past, you will notice a number of changes on the 2024-2025 form. Completing the application will be more straight-forward and easier to complete. For students and families new to FAFSA, completing the application should easier as well. Here’s why:

The FAFSA Simplification Act was bundled into the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which was included the second coronavirus relief bill.

The long-awaited changes to the FAFSA form aim to make completing the form easier. Changes include shortening the form and expanding eligibility for many types of student aid.  

The redesigned FAFSA will be available by December 31,  2023 for the 2024-25 academic year — a delay from the typical October 1 release date.  State and school deadlines are expected to change as well.

La Crosse Promise Future Center will hold a FAFSA informational/completion session on Monday, January 8, 2024 from 6-7:30pm at Viterbo University.

All parents and students from Central, Logan and Poly Tech are welcome. 

In this session, the Future Center Advisor and other FAFSA experts, will go over what has changed from the previous form and help guide students and parents in the completing the application process.

 

Here are some of the important changes:

  • Students will no longer have to register for the Selective Service.  
  • The new form will be available in at least 11 languages.  The current FAFSA is in only English and Spanish.
  • Students will now only have to answer about 40 questions (rather than the previous 100).  Simplified calculation that will increase the number of Pell eligible students.
  • FSA will no longer divide the Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which will soon be called the Student Aid Index (SAI), by the number of students a family has in college. This means that under the new FAFSA, families with more than one student in college will, in many cases, be eligible for less financial aid.
  • If parents are divorced or separated, the parent who provided the most financial support in the last calendar year will now complete the FAFSA. In previous years, the parent with whom a student lived with the most in the last calendar year needed to complete the FAFSA. The parent who claims the student as a dependent on their tax return has no bearing on determining which parent files the FAFSA.
  • The net worth of family farms and small businesses will now be required as part of the application. Previously, the net worth of a family farm or a small business with fewer than 100 employees was not required. Moving forward, the net worth of each will be part of the FAFSA calculation.
  • Students who qualify for a dependency override due to homelessness or not being able to access their parents’ financials, no longer need to recertify their dependency status each year, unless their situation changes. The FAFSA will provide the option for students to indicate they have unusual circumstances and request additional guidance from the financial aid office.

 

Have any questions? Email kmillard@lacrossesd.org