The updated FAFSA is having a greater impact on divorced parents, undocumented parents and those with multiple kids in school.
Updated Jul 24, 2024 · 4 min read Written by Eliza Haverstock Lead Writer Eliza Haverstock
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Eliza Haverstock is NerdWallet's higher education writer, where she covers all aspects of college affordability and student loans. Previously, she reported on billionaires and investing for Forbes in New York, and she also covered private markets for PitchBook in Seattle. Eliza got started at her college newspaper at the University of Virginia and interned for Bloomberg, where she spent a summer writing a feature story about plastic straws. She is based in Washington, D.C.
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Attention parents: If your kid will be in college during the fall and beyond, you’ll need to fill out a redesigned Free Application for Federal Student Aid ( FAFSA ).
The new FAFSA launched in late December 2023 after months of delay and was the form's biggest overhaul in 40 years. The form has fewer questions, some different processes and a new formula to calculate federal aid packages .
It’s important to submit the FAFSA if your kid will be in college. Otherwise, your student will be ineligible for federal student aid — including federal student loans , work study, some scholarships and up to $7,395 per year in need-based Pell Grants.
If you don't claim your child as a dependent, you don't have to fill out the FAFSA. Some FAFSA changes will be general for all parents, while other updates will only impact parents in certain situations.
Here are the key updates parents need to know about the new FAFSA .
The new FAFSA pulls in your income and tax information directly from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), through a direct data exchange. Unlike in previous years, this step is not optional. Parents must consent to the IRS transfer when filling out the FAFSA in order for their student to be eligible for federal financial aid.
In recent years, the FAFSA opened on Oct. 1 for the upcoming academic year. The overhaul delayed the 2024-25 form release. The Education Department has yet to announce an official open date for the 2025-26 form.
The new FAFSA's launch was rocky, with some applicants forced to wait months to fix mistakes, update information or navigate a handful of awkwardly phrased questions. In July, a coalition of five higher education associations, including the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, encouraged the department to consider delaying 2025-26 form to Dec. 1 to enable colleges, the government and students adequate time to prepare.
Families of prospective students should still submit the FAFSA as soon as possible after its release. Some aid is first-come, first-served — so the sooner you apply, the larger the pool of aid you’ll have access to.
“Contributor” is a new term on the redesigned FAFSA that describes anyone who must provide their financial information on the form. It doesn’t mean you’re financially responsible for your student’s education. At least one parent will be considered a contributor, along with the student. A stepparent can also be a contributor.
Each contributor will need a unique username and password combination called a Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID to access the FAFSA. You may have to wait up to three days between requesting your FSA ID and receiving it. Submit your FSA ID request on studentaid.gov now so you’re ready to go as soon as the FAFSA opens later this month.
Previously, students had to sit down with their parents to fill out the form together. Now, parents and students submit their portions of the FAFSA separately, with their unique FSA IDs.
Still, it’s important for parents to fill out their portion of the FAFSA around the same time their child does. If a parent doesn’t submit the parent portion within 45 days of the student, the saved form expires and the family has start it all over again.
The “student aid index” (SAI) is replacing “expected family contribution” (EFC) as a measure of a student’s financial need. As a result, it should be easier for students to qualify for the need-based Pell Grant , which they won’t need to repay after leaving college.
If you’re married but you file your tax return as Married Filed Jointly, only one parent needs to register as a contributor and fill out the FAFSA. This parent will report information for both parents.
If you’re married but you file your taxes separately from your spouse, both parents will need to register as contributors and fill out the FAFSA independently.
If you’re divorced or legally separated, the parent who provided the most financial support for the student over the last 12 months will be the FAFSA contributor. If this parent is remarried and didn’t file their taxes jointly, their spouse will also be a contributor.
In past years, the FAFSA used the financial information of the parent whom the student lived with the majority of the time, regardless of whether they provided the most financial support.
If you don’t have a Social Security number, there's a different process for requesting an FSA ID; you'll need to manually enter your financial information, and you can find the latest guidance here .
The new FAFSA is also available in 11 languages, instead of only English and Spanish.
On the new FAFSA, parents are required to report the value of any small business or family farm they own. This could impact student aid packages.
The “sibling discount” has disappeared starting in the 2024-25 school year.
The new FAFSA still includes a question about how many dependent children you have in college at the same time, but it won’t figure in to federal financial aid packages, including the Pell Grant. But colleges may still use the question to determine their own aid packages.
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Eliza Haverstock is a lead writer on NerdWallet's student loan team covering loan repayment and alternatives to traditional four-year degrees. See full bio.
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