Office of Student Financial Assistance

Offering undergraduate and graduate students a variety of ways to finance their education

Office of Student Financial Assistance / 2024-25 FAFSA Changes

2024-25 FAFSA Changes

The 2024–25 FAFSA® Is Live!

Update May 14, 2024: How To Submit the 2024–25 FAFSA® Form if Your Contributor (Parent) Doesn’t Have an SSN. The Dept. of Education has updated its instructions for students submitting the form for parents without an SSN. See the PDF linked here: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/NonSSNupdatedMay2024.pdf

Update April 17, 2024: The Dept. of Education has updated its page- How To Review and Correct Your FAFSA® Form for the 2024-2025 year.

Correct Mistakes or Make Updates to Your 2024–25 FAFSA® Form

Correct Mistakes
After your application has been processed, you can correct your FAFSA form online or on paper.

Make Updates
While most information cannot be changed on the FAFSA form, some information must be updated if it changes. Find out the difference and how to update FAFSA information.

Update April 4, 2024: SMCM plans to begin releasing packages in the next week. We will be working as diligently as we can to be sure they are correct and the information going out to students is accurate. We greatly appreciate your patience as we release the financial aid packages as quickly as we can.

Update April 1, 2024: From the DoE: The ability for students to make updates and corrections to their FAFSA forms will be available in the first half of April. In advance of that implementation, the Department will provide detailed information to partners, students, and families on how to correct the most common FAFSA form errors including no signatures and selecting ‘yes’ to applying for unsubsidized loans only (Question 8).

Update March 20, 2024: SMCM has received our first batch of FAFSA data. We will continue to work with our vendors to get packages out as soon as possible.

Update February 20, 2024: Federal student aid has put out Pro Tips for the 2024–25 FAFSA® Form. Use these tips to help you successfully complete the 2024–25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form.

Update January 30, 2024: Today, the White House and U.S. Department of Education officially announced that institutions will not receive FAFSA applicant information until “the first half of March,” further delaying an already sluggish process.

Update January 15, 2024: 2024–25 FAFSA Issue Alerts. This page will be updated by the DoE as they release updates to known issues.

Update January 10, 2024: The FAFSA is now officially open 24/7 and will be “continuously available except for routine maintenance, typical of any FAFSA cycle.” The form is still technically in its soft launch period until the end of January, but the department’s announcement suggests the website is in a more stable condition.

Update January 5, 2024: The 2024–25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form is available at fafsa.gov as part of the soft launch. During the soft launch, the FAFSA form will be available while FSA monitors site performance and form functionality.

Students and families can visit StudentAid.gov/fillingout for resources about completing the 2024–25 FAFSA form—including information on how parents can create a StudentAid.gov account without a Social Security number, how to complete the new 2024–25 FAFSA form, and what to do before and after completing the FAFSA form.

Access the FAFSA Form

The FAFSA Simplification Act represents a significant overhaul of the processes and systems used to file the FAFSA and apply for financial aid.

Update November 15, 2023: Federal Student Aid (FSA) announced that the 2024-25 FAFSA will go live by December 31, 2023, meeting the requirement that the form must be available by January 1. Along with the release date, FSA announced while the application itself will be live, it will not begin processing FAFSA forms submitted online until January 2024. Institutions will not receive the FAFSA information or Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) until the end of January 2024.

Major changes to the new FAFSA:

  1. Replacing the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) With the Student Aid Index (SAI)
  2. Streamlining the FAFSA® Form
  3. Modifications to Family Definitions in FAFSA Formulas
  4. Expanding Access to Federal Pell Grants

Federal Student Aid FAFSA Help Page

Preparing for the FAFSA

Even though the FAFSA won’t be available until December, you can prepare now to file:

  • Create an FSA ID on the Federal Student Aid website and assist contributors, such as your parent(s) or spouse, in creating an FSA ID. If you previously completed a FAFSA, you already have an FSA ID and do not need to create a new one. That is the same for your parent if they previously signed your FAFSA.
  • Watch for emails from the U.S. Department of Education to ensure you don’t miss any important updates.
  • Opt in to SMS (text) messages by logging into your StudentAid.gov account to receive up-to-date notifications and information.
  • Follow Federal Student Aid on X (Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook for announcements and resources.

Students and families can use the Federal Student Aid Estimator now. The Federal Student Aid Estimator can help you understand your options for paying for college or career school by providing you with an early estimate of how much federal student aid you may be eligible for.
This estimator is not the actual FAFSA form. The 2024-2025 FAFSA will be available in December 2023.