Big Changes Coming to the FAFSA
Congress announced an agreement to include revisions in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, in the omnibus spending bill that Congress approved last week, which will make the financial aid form shorter, easier, and more transparent.
The bill's provisions will take effect in the 2023-24 college aid cycle. That means changes will be reflected on the FAFSA that is available October 1, 2022.
"This is a big achievement for the college-access field," said Carrie Warick, director of policy and advocacy for the National College Attainment Network, "and something that will have very real benefits for many students."
“This is a big achievement for the college-access field, and something that will have very real benefits for many students.”
Warick wrote her organization's first brief on simplifying the FAFSA in 2012. She has since pushed for streamlining the complicated aid form to help more students get to college. For many, the pared-down form will make applying for aid less tedious, time-consuming, and anxiety-inducing. That's important because many families with financial need wrongly think they're not eligible for aid.
"That perception can discourage them from completing the FAFSA and finding out how much aid they can get," Warick said. "Now there will be a better way to signal to students that, yes, you should go through this process, because at least you're going to get something."
Here's a quick look at the key changes:
The FAFSA will be shorter. Dozens of existing questions — including some for which less than 1 percent of filers answer with a non-zero response — will be eliminated. The new form will have 36 questions, down from 108. According to their financial situation, the exact number of questions students must answer will vary, as it does now.
The FAFSA will be friendlier. Most aid applicants will no longer have to self-report income data on the FAFSA. Taxed and untaxed income data will automatically and directly transfer from the applicant's tax return to the FAFSA.
SAI to replace EFC. FAFSA filers currently see an "Expected Family Contribution," or EFC, after completing the form. It's a misleading term for what is a formula for allotting federal aid funds — not a measure of what a family can or should pay.
The SAI (Student Aid Index) will replace the EFC on the FAFSA and determine the ability of a family to pay "in a more nuanced way than the current EFC," Warick said. For example, there will be a "negative SAI" of up to $1,500 for non-tax-filers and students who require the most significant financial support, according to the formula's calculations.
Warick said the negative-SAI indicator "will be a way to signal to institutions which students have the most need, by showing them further gradations in the needs level than we have now."
Excerpts taken from the Chronicle of Higher Education