Why is the FAFSA changing?

的 FAFSA Simplification Act has recently been passed by Congress to streamline the financial 援助 process for students and families, and is a sweeping redesign of the processes and systems used to award federal student 援助. Specifically, this law makes it easier for students and families to complete and 提交 the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form, attempts to clarify the questions that will be asked, and expands access to federal student 援助.

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What does this mean for students and families?

Some of the key changes that will affect our students and families completing the FAFSA are as follows:

• 的 Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) has been replaced by the Student Aid Index (赛). 的 赛 is a different way to determine 援助 eligibility.  

• 的 FAFSA Simplification Act expands the Federal Pell Grant to more students and will link eligibility to family size and the federal poverty level. 

• Schools will use the 赛 to determine eligibility for federal financial 援助 programs. Montco will also use the 赛 to determine financial need for need-based institutional 资金. 

• 赛 will no longer take the number of students in college into consideration. 这 may reduce need-based 援助 eligibility for current students with siblings in college.  
• For students whose parents are separated or divorced, the guidance on which parent income to report has changed to the parent who provides the most financial support to the student, rather than the parent who lives at the student’s primary residence.
• 父母 without a Social Security Number will be able to apply for an FSA ID. 这 will speed up FAFSA processing time as they’ll be able to 提交 the form online, rather than having to print, sign and mail their application.
• 学生 who qualify for a dependency override due to homelessness or not being able to access their parents’ financials, no longer need to re-certify their dependency status each year, unless their situation changes. 

You will also notice a few new terms on the new FAFSA. Some of these include:

• 贡献者: anyone who is asked to provide information on the FAFSA – student, student spouse, parent(s), and stepparent(s) for example. 
• 同意: each contributor will now need to provide their consent to their Federal Tax Information (FTI) being included in the FAFSA, even if they did not file a U.S. 纳税申报表. 
• 赛: Student Index Aid (赛) replaces the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). 
• FTI: Federal Tax Information (FTI) transferred directly from the IRS. 
  
  

For More information about FAFSA Simplification, please check out this short video:

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Next Steps and Additional Information

Stay connected and up to date with the Federal Student Aid Simplification Act. 

Learn more about financial 援助 through informative video segments geared toward students and parents.