What Is The FAFSA Simplification Act?
- The FAFSA Simplification Act is a significant overhaul of the processes and systems used to award federal student aid starting with the 2024–25 award year.
- It's a more streamlined application process that expands eligibility for federal financial aid by linking it to family size and the federal poverty level.
- It also reduces barriers for certain student populations, and creates better user experience for the FAFSA form.
What does this mean for students?
- "Student Aid Index" has replaced "Expanded Family Contribution" in this financial need formula.
- The new financial need formula removes the number of family members in college from the calculation, adds the value of small businesses and farms, and allows a minimum aid index of negative $1,500 to give financial aid administrators more insight when making determinations for students with especially challenging situations.
What's Next?
- December 2023 = FAFSA 2024-2025 released
- January 2024 = Ellucian will release a software upgrade
- March 2024 = Estimated Financial Aid Offers released.
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