Changes to the 2024-2025 FAFSA

The 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now available at studentaid.gov.  The Department of Education has begun with a "soft launch" of the new FAFSA and expects it to be unavailable occasionally while they make updates to improve the user experience for students and families.  Please try again in a few hours or the next day if you are unable to access the FAFSA or experience an error during filing.

 

What's Changed?

Contributors

A contributor is anyone required to provide information, a signature and consent/approval to have their federal tax information transferred directly into the FAFSA.  This typically includes the student and the student's parent for dependent students.  In some cases, the student's spouse or their parent's spouse may be contributors as well.

Student and parent/contributor sections

The FAFSA is role-based.  The student and each contributor will need their own FSA ID and will be prompted to complete their sections separately.  Neither the student nor the other contributors will be able to access the other's section and information.  The FSA ID set up should be the first step in the FAFSA filing process.

Other changes to note

  • The Student Aid Index (SAI) is replacing the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC).  The SAI will be calculated based on information gathered by the FAFSA and will be used by schools to determine your eligibility for federal student aid.
  • Consent to transfer federal tax information must be provided by all contributors for a student to be eligible for federal student aid.

What happens after you submit?

  1. You will get a confirmation email from the Department of Education upon successful completion of the FAFSA.
  2. Schools will not receive files right away.  The Department of Education hopes to send FAFSA data to schools by mid-March.
  3. If additional information is needed, we will notify you in April.
  4. Financial Aid Offers for new students will be mailed in April.
  5. Financial Aid Offers for continuing students will be available in your My.Emich.edu student portal in late May.