FAFSA 2025 - 2026

Due to the passing of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Simplification Act on December 27, 2020, as a part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, the FAFSA changed for the 2024 - 2025 aid year, and future years.

• Availability
• Require Username & Password
• Federal Tax Information
• Contributors
• Parent of Record
• Enrollment Intensity - Pell Grant

Availability

Require Username & Password

• All individuals on the FAFSA; students, parents, spouses, will need to create a Federal Student Aid (FSA) Account Username and Password at www.studentaid.gov.
• Individuals that do not have a Social Security Number will be able to create an account using an alternative verification method. View our ‘Creating an FSA Account without an SSN’ tutorial.
• User accounts without an SSN will need to manually enter their tax data on the FAFSA.
• User accounts, with an SSN, need to be setup a few days prior to filling out the FAFSA in order for verification to be completed with the Social Security Administration so that tax data can be transferred from the IRS. See how to check that your verification is complete.

Key Changes - StudentAid.gov Account Requirement

• Each student and contributor must create their own StudentAid.gov account to complete the FAFSA form online.

• To log in to their account, a student or contributor will use their FSA ID (account username and password).

• Starting in December 2023, even if a contributor doesn’t have a Social Security number, they can still get an FSA ID to fill out their portion of the student’s FAFSA form online.

• NOTE: A student must be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen to be eligible for federal student aid.

Federal Tax Information

• Direct Data Exchange (FA-DDX) has replaced the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) to transfer data from the federal tax returns.
• FAFSA Privacy Act Consent requires each student and contributor to give consent to have their tax data transferred from the IRS. If consent is not provided, the student will not be eligible for federal student aid.

Contributors

• A contributor is a person required to provide consent and approval for Federal Tax Information (FTI) to be used on the FAFSA as well as sign the FAFSA. Contributors include the student, student spouse (if married), parents and parent spouses.
• How a student responds to questions at the beginning of the FAFSA will determine if any contributors need to be ‘invited’ to complete information on the application. The student then enters the needed information for an invitation to be emailed to the contributor, providing a link to them to access the application.

What You Need To Know - Contributors

• A student’s or parent’s answers on the FAFSA form will determine which contributors (if any) will be required to provide information.

• Students or parents invite contributors to complete their portion of the FAFSA form by entering the contributor’s name, date of birth, Social Security number, and email address.

• Contributors must provide personal and financial information in their own sections of the FAFSA form, but that doesn't make them financially responsible for the student’s education costs.

Steps for Contributors

1. Contributor receives an email informing them that they have been identified as a contributor.

2. Contributor creates a StudentAid.gov account if they do not already have one.

3. Contributor logs in to the account using their FSA ID (account username and password).

4. Contributor reviews information about completing their section of the FAFSA form.

5. Contributor provides required info, including consent and approval, and signs the student’s FAFSA form.

Important: Being a contributor does not indicate financial responsibility. However, if a contributor refuses to provide their information, the student will not be eligible for federal student aid.

Parent of Record

For Dependent Students whose parents were never married, are divorced or separated; they will need to choose one as their Parent of Record. This is the parent whose income and assets will be reported on the FAFSA.

NOTE: Section 1, Personal Circumstances, of the FAFSA will ask the student questions to assist in determining who the Parent of Record is. This series of questions is also referred to as the ‘Parent Wizard’.

The Parent of Record should be :

• The parent who provided the most financial support in the 12 months prior to filing the FAFSA, even if the student does not live with the parent. (i.e. the child support paid by the parent is more than half of the student’s support)
• If neither parent provided support in the 12 month period listed above, the parent of record is the parent who provided the greater support during the most recent year that the student received financial support from a parent.
• If equal support is given, the parent of record is the one with the higher income and/or assets.

REMINDER: If a parent has married/re-married, and is chosen as the Parent of Record, the parent spouse (stepparent of the student) needs to be included on the FAFSA. Their income and assets also need to be included.

Enrollment Intensity - Pell Grant

Pell Grants will NO longer be banded by enrollment levels of full-time, three-quarter-time, half-time or less than half-time.

Full-time is still considered 12 credits (per term), the grant will be prorated for every credit below 12.

• For enrollment less than 12 credits, divide the number of credits by 12 to calculate enrollment intensity
  • 7 credits / 12 = 58% enrollment intensity the student will receive 58% of their maximum Pell Grant eligibility for the semester