The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is undergoing its biggest redesign in 40 years.

The FAFSA Simplification Act, passed by Congress in December 2020 and scheduled for full implementation in the 2024-25 academic year, makes significant changes to the underlying processes and methodologies for determining federal student aid eligibility.

While many questions remain and CSU continues to receive information and guidance from the U.S. Department of Education and Federal Student Aid, the Office of Financial Aid (OFA) is sharing a few updates, based on what is known now.

Updates for 2024-25

Below are a few updates for the 2024-25 FAFSA:

• Delayed release date: Since 2016, the FAFSA has been made available on Oct. 1 each year. Federal Student Aid has not committed to a specific release date yet but has indicated that the application will be available sometime in December of 2023.
•  A shorter application: The new FAFSA will reduce the maximum number of questions from 108 to 46. And because the online form is dynamic, many students won’t be presented with all 46 questions, which should streamline the applicant experience.
• Required IRS Direct Data Exchange: Previously, students had the option to enter their tax information manually or use an IRS Data Retrieval Tool to complete their application. Beginning with 2024-25, students will be required to use the IRS Direct Data Exchange to share tax information or confirm non-filing status. A student who does not complete the IRS Direct Data Exchange or confirm non-filing status cannot receive federal financial aid.
• EFC becomes SAI: The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) will be replaced with the Student Aid Index (SAI). The intention is to more accurately describe the datapoint used to determine financial aid eligibility. And, unlike the EFC, it is possible for the SAI to go below zero, down to -1500.

What is staying the same?

Several aid-related matters won’t change with the FAFSA Simplification Act:

• Types of aid available and loan limits: The general types of federal aid available to CSU students and federal student loan limits will remain the same.
• Requirement to receive federal aid: Students must continue to submit the FAFSA every year they wish to be considered for federal student aid.
• Prior-prior year financial information: The FAFSA will continue to require federal income tax information from the prior-prior year, which means students will report 2022 information on their 2024-25 application.

What does this mean at CSU?

For CSU students, the law makes it easier for students and families to complete and submit the FAFSA, and it will expand access to federal financial aid programs.

For OFA, these changes require significant updates to our systems and processes, many of which are still unknown. CSU continues to review information provided by the U.S. Department of Education and Federal Student Aid and assess operational needs within OFA.

Because of the delayed release of the FAFSA this year, anticipated coordination of additional late-breaking software updates, and a compressed timeframe for processing applications, it is possible that financial aid offers for new students may be slightly delayed. For context, OFA has worked to begin sending financial aid offers for new students in mid- to late-February. For the 2024-25 aid year, we anticipate that timeline being mid- to late-March.

Additional information about the FAFSA Simplification Act is available online. OFA understands that many questions remain, and will continue to provide updates to the CSU community as more information becomes available.