2024-2025 FAFSA Simplification Changes
In 2020, the FAFSA Simplification Act was passed into law, allowing for new improvements to be made to both the FAFSA application and process overall. This act was passed with the intent of simplifying the application process and to change the aid eligibility calculation.
Federal Student Aid (FSA) has not released an exact date the FAFSA will be open, but they have released it will be open by December 31st, 2023.
2024-2025 Awarding Timeline
Fall Semester 2023
Both students and parents will need to sign up for their FSA ID and Password on studentaid.gov if they have never created an account. These accounts can take a few days to be verified, so don't delay in setting it up!
If you'd like a template of things you need to prepare to set up your FSA ID, use our guide!
January 2024
Once the 2024-2025 FAFSA is open, complete the FAFSA as soon as possible for the best opportunities for federal and state aid.
Residents of Kentucky will want to complete their FAFSA no later than April 1st, 2024 for best chances at additional state grants.
March-April 2024
Officials at Federal Student Aid (FSA) estimate institutions will be able to receive processed FAFSA information mid-spring.
Once WKU Student Financial Assistance is able to send aid offers, newly admitted first-time freshmen will receive their aid offer via USPS mail and email.
May-June 2024
For returning students and students transferring to WKU, aid offers will begin once grades and Satisfactory Academic Progress reporting/eligibility has been checked.
These offers will arrive via USPS and TopperMail.
This video from Federal Student Aid reviews the key changes in the 2024-2025 FAFSA Form.
The six key changes are:
- Spouses or stepparents may need to participate.
- Federal Tax Information (FTI) will be transferred directly from the IRS into the form.
- Consent and approval for the transfer of the FTI are required to be eligible for federal student aid.
- Everyone must have their own FSA ID and password.
- You can view more details about the status of your FAFSA form.
- You can now select up to 20 schools to receive your FAFSA form.
Here are some key terms that you will see as you complete the 2024-2025 FAFSA Application:
- Contributor: Anyone being asked to provide information on the FAFSA. This will be the student, along with any of the following that may apply; student's spouse, parent(s), step-parent(s)
- Consent: Each Contributor must provide electronic consent for their federal tax information (FTI) to be shared with FSA for the purposes of the student filing the FAFSA form. This will be required even if the contributor didn't file a U.S. tax return.
- SAI: Student Aid Index replaces the previously used Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
- FTI: Federal Tax Information transferred directly from the IRS
- DDX: Direct Data Exchange, previously known as the Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) in previous FAFSA Forms.
- FAFSA Submission Summary: This was previously known as the Student Aid Report (SAR)
Yes! Any parent that will be a contributor of your FAFSA form will need to create an FSA ID. If a student is married, their spouse would also need to create an FSA ID.
If your parent(s) do not have a Social Security Number, they can still file for an FSA ID. All parents will need a personal email account to do so.
For more guidance on how to complete an FSA ID without a FAFSA, please refer to this handout.
A contributor is anyone required to provide their federal tax information on the FAFSA form. Being a contributor does not mean that person is responsible for the student's educational expenses.
If your parents are married and file their taxes jointly, only one parent will need to be a contributor.
If your parents are not married, or are divorced, the parent that provides 51% or more of the financial support for the student is the one that must be the contributor. Who claims the student on taxes does not indicate who the contributor should be.
If a student's parents are divorced and the parent that provides 51% or more of the financial support is married, the stepparent may be used as a contributor as their federal tax information (FTI) would be used on the student's FAFSA form.
Even if you or your contributor(s) did not file a U.S. Federal tax return, you and all contributor(s) must still provide consent for that to be shared with FSA for your 2024-2025 FAFSA Form.
All contributors must provide electronic consent for federal tax information (FTI) to be shared on the FAFSA form. Without consent from all contributors, the student will not be eligible for federal student aid.
When completing the FAFSA and asked to verify Family size, the family size will be automatically calculated based on the 2022 tax forms.
On the FAFSA, you will be asked if the Family size is correct. If this has changed, you will need to know how many family members were reported on the 2022 taxes, and then adjust the family size from that original count.
If the family size didn't change from the 2022 tax return, then do not make any changes to this on the FAFSA when prompted.
Student Financial Assistance
317 Potter HallWestern Kentucky University
1906 College Heights Blvd. #11018
Bowling Green, KY 42101-1018
Phone: 270-745-2755
Fax: 270-745-6586
Email: fa.help@wku.edu
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