How to Apply to FAFSA

• A more streamlined application process
• Expanded eligibility for federal student aid
• Expanded eligibility for the Federal Pell Grant
• Reduced barriers for certain student populations (e.g., homeless and unaccompanied youth, incarcerated students, English language learners, and students from low-income backgrounds)
• A better user experience for the FAFSA
• Enhanced data sharing with the IRS to simplify the applicant’s experience

What can I do to prepare?

• Have your 2022 tax documents ready to go in December.
• Every contributor will need an FSA ID in order to complete their part of the FAFSA.
  • Contributors can complete only their part of the FAFSA (student or parent). The second contributor will receive an email invitation to log in and complete their part once the first contributor is finished.

When will I get my aid offer once I am admitted to Stetson?

• Our goal is to get aid information to students as quickly as possible. However, the US Department of Education has indicated FAFSA results will not be made available to Schools until mid-March 2024.

When will returning students get their aid offers?

• Our goal is to get aid information to returning students as quickly as possible. We plan to begin releasing aid offers or requesting additional information from students who have completed the FAFSA in March. This timeline is subject to change. We appreciate your patience as we navigate the new FAFSA.

Students and families will see a different measure of their ability to pay for college, and they will experience a change in the methodology used to determine aid.

• The formula for calculating the Student Aid Index (SAI) is COA – SAI = financial need.
• The new need-analysis formula:
  • removes the number of family members in college from the calculation,
  • allows a minimum SAI of -$1,500,
  • implements separate eligibility determination criteria for Federal Pell Grants based on federal poverty levels and family size.
• Child support received will be included in assets and not as untaxed income.
• Families who own a small business/farm that also serves as a primary residence will now have assets of that business/farm considered in their need-analysis calculation.

• The number of questions will be reduced, and the application will maximize the use of previously collected data.
• Students will be able to list up to 20 schools on their FAFSA via the online application.
• The Student Aid Index (SAI) will replace the Expected Family Contribution (EFC).
• The Cost of Attendance (COA) is the starting point for calculating financial need. COA includes direct costs (charges for which the university bills you directly) and estimated indirect costs (living expenses) to fund educational expenses for a year.
• Ward of the courts, youth in foster care at any time since the age of 13, homeless, and unaccompanied youth—as well as applicants who cannot provide parental information—will be able to complete the form with a provisional independent student determination and receive a calculated SAI.
• Anyone asked to provide information on the aid application—student, spouse, student’s parent(s) and/or stepparents(s)—is called a “contributor” to the application.
• Students, spouses, parents, and stepparents (contributors) will now need to provide their consent to provide their Federal Tax Information (FTI) in the new Consent to Retrieve and Disclose Federal Tax Information section of the FAFSA for federal student aid eligibility.
  • Direct data sharing with the IRS will replace what is currently known as the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT).
  • If any contributor to the FAFSAdoes not provide consent, submission of the application will still be allowed. However, a Student Aid Index (SAI) will not be calculated.
• The Custodial Parent on your FAFSA will be the parent(s) who provided you with more financial support, instead of the parent(s) with whom you lived more during the past 12 months.
• There will be two-step verification and all FAFSA contributors must have an FSA ID to log into the online application. There will be a new process to get an FSA ID for parents and spouses without a Social Security number.
• Applicants will be asked to report their sex, race, and ethnicity on the FAFSA itself, but students will be offered a choice of “Prefer Not to Answer.” Schools and state agencies won’t see responses to these questions on the FAFSA.

The FAFSA Simplification Act represents a significant update of the processes and systems used to award federal student aid starting with the 2024–25 award year. This includes the FAFSA, need analysis, and many policies and procedures for schools that participate in federal student aid programs.

The FAFSA Simplification Act was signed into law in 2020 and is the first major redesign of the FAFSA application and aid process in over 40 years. The Act represents the overhaul of federal student aid, including the FAFSA application, federal methodology used to determine need, identification of the parent participants in the aid process, updating key terms and definitions related to aid processes, and updating the policies for schools that participate in the Title IV programs. 

What is consent, and why do I have to provide it when completing the FAFSA 2024-25?

The Future Act requires that every contributor on the FAFSA provide consent to share their tax information in the application so that the IRS can share this information with Federal Student Aid (FSA). All parties whose Federal Tax Information (FTI) is included on a student’s FAFSA form must consent annually.

The consent will be required when a student submits a FAFSA, chooses Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) when starting loan repayment, or submits the Total and Permanent Disability discharge (TPD) within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for totally and permanently disabled students.

The consent is necessary not only for the U.S. Department of Education to request federal tax information from the IRS but also to use that FTI in the federal student aid application process (i.e., disclose that information to certain eligible entities, such as higher education institutions).

What happens if I, as a student, or a spouse or parent, do not want to provide consent on the FAFSA?

If a student, spouse, or parent does not provide consent on the FAFSA, the Student Aid Index (SAI) will not be calculated, and the student will not be eligible for financial aid.

What if I had a low income and was not required to file taxes?

According to the IRS tax year 2022, these are the thresholds by filing status. If an independent student (and spouse, if married) or a parent of a dependent student were not required to file a federal income tax return for 2022, then the student will automatically receive a Student Aid Index (SAI) equal to –1500. They still need to provide consent when submitting the FAFSA so the IRS can confirm to Federal Student Aid (FSA) that the student, parents, and spouse did not file taxes.

Will students still be able to use the IRS data retrieval tool?

No. Starting FAFSA 2024-25, the DRT will no longer exist. After the student, spouse, and/or parent provides consent to the Direct Data Exchange (FADDX) via the FAFSA completion process, the Federal Tax Information (FTI) will be linked to the application contributor. Federal Student Aid (FSA) will now directly transfer Federal Tax Information (FTI) from the IRS into the FAFSA form as long as the user has provided FSA with consent to do so.

All users identified as required contributors on a particular FAFSA form will be prompted to provide consent for the IRS to use their Federal Tax Information (FTI). This consent is required to retrieve FTI from the IRS to calculate the student’s aid eligibility. If any required contributor to the FAFSA form does not provide consent, submission of the form will still be allowed. However, a Student Aid Index (SAI), which replaces the Expected Family Contribution (EFC), will not be calculated.

Will non-custodial parents be contributors if they have not claimed the child on their taxes?

Starting with the Simplified FAFSA, students will determine which parent(s) to report based on which provides the most financial support. This determination will not be impacted by if the parent(s) reported the student on their taxes. The reported parent(s) will provide consent to transfer their tax data even if they do not claim the student on their taxes.

If parents who are remarried provide more support to the child than a biological parent, does the stepparent have to provide their tax information?

Yes. If the parent providing more financial support is remarried, the stepparent’s tax information is required.

What if my parents or stepparents do not want to provide their tax information for my FAFSA?

Office of Financial Aid staff can talk directly with the parent or stepparent to explain why that information is needed and answer any questions, which sometimes puts them at ease about how their information will be used. Our staff cannot provide tax advice.

How do I report small business or farm value as assets on the FAFSA?

Parents (or independent students) are the best sources for this estimate; they can consult their accountant or other financial professional if they have access to one, to estimate the amounts to report.

My parent is self-employed – do they still need to say they own a business?

Being self-employed shows as business income on tax returns. But it depends on the type of work whether or not they will have to report any assets associated with their business.

I – and/or my parents or spouse – amended our taxes. Will my federal tax information (FTI) be transferred, or do I have to provide a 1040x later to the school? 

Yes, Federal Tax Information (FTI) can be transferred. Starting 2024-25, when the student, spouse, parent, and/or stepparent provide consent, the IRS’s FTI will include the information from an amended tax return.

Can I self-report my income on FAFSA? 

After you provide consent on the FAFSA, if the IRS cannot transfer your Federal Tax Information (FTI) to your FAFSA application, the application will allow you to self-report it. Self-reporting your tax information on the FAFSA does not override the requirement for each required contributor to provide consent on the FAFSA form. They will need to both 1) provide consent and 2) have their tax information submitted, either directly from the IRS or self-reported manually, on the FAFSA form.

If a parent of a dependent student or an independent student is a non-filer and earned no wages for the applicable year, do they have to provide consent?

Any individual who is a contributor to the FAFSA application must provide consent. This includes parents and independent students, regardless of their tax filing status. Generally, the parents of independent students are not contributors and would, therefore, not need to provide consent.

What happens if a contributor provides consent but does not sign the FAFSA form? 

Starting 2024-25, FAFSAs submitted online must be completed online, including all required signatures. This means if a signature is missing, the applicable parent or the contributor must obtain an FSA ID to complete their section and sign the FAFSA.

Starting 2024-25, parents without a Social Security Number may create an FSA ID for use in completing and signing the FAFSA. Please see the following U.S. Department of Education webpage regarding creating an FSA ID: Create Account | Federal Student Aid.

There is no longer an option to print and submit a signature page to complete an online FAFSA and financial aid administrators will not be able to submit FAFSA signature forms on students’ behalf.

Students and parents will be required to have an FSA ID to complete the FAFSA application, including consent and signature, online. If they choose to mail a paper FAFSA, all contributors (student and parents) will need to provide consent on the paper FAFSA, provide original signatures (i.e. wet signatures), and mail the paper FAFSA to the U.S. Department of Education address as indicated on the paper application. This method is not recommended due to its complexity and resulting increased processing time.

In what situations will there be a match with the IRS, but the IRS would not provide information?

Identity theft or fraud are the most likely reasons for the IRS not providing tax information for the applicant or the contributor. If the contributor has been flagged by the IRS, possibly due to identity theft or a breach of some sort to their information, then the IRS will notify the FAFSA processors via an electronic code indicating they are unable to provide the data. The FAFSA processors will notify you if this occurs.

If a parent does not want to or refuses to create an FSA id, is there an alternative for that parent to provide consent, such as mailing an original signature (i.e. wet signature) on a consent page? 

There is no longer a separate signature page, and there will not be a consent signature option on paper. There are two alternative options for contributors to provide consent who will not or cannot create an FSA ID. One option is to submit a paper FAFSA form completed by all contributors and mailed to Federal Student Aid. This method is not recommended due to its complexity and increased processing time.