The new FAFSA is finally here!  The “soft launch” is over, and it’s time to complete the form and submit it to your colleges.

What’s New?

• The formula used to determine your financial aid eligibility is changing. It will no longer be the EFC (Estimated Family Contribution). It will now be the SAI (Student Aid Index). It’s not a dollar amount, but rather a number ranging from –1500 to 999999.
• The Student Aid Report has been replaced by the FAFSA Submission Summary.
• Up to 20 colleges can be listed (this is up from 10 in previous years).
• You must give consent to connect the FAFSA to your IRS data.
• “Contributor” is a new term. This includes the student, parents, parent’s spouse and anyone else who needs to provide their information to complete the form.
• More students will be eligible for Pell Grants.

Here’s What You Need to Know:

• Both the parent and student need a FSA ID.
• If a required contributor doesn’t provide consent to have their IRS data transferred to the FAFSA, the student will not be eligible for federal student aid.
• Colleges won’t start receiving the data from the FAFSA until the end of January.
• It critical that you check each of your schools’ financial aid page to confirm their deadlines and which forms you need to fill out (they may require the CSS Profile or other forms in addition to the FAFSA).

Patience is a Virtue

The new form has its glitches.  The SAI has a miscalculation in the formula that doesn’t properly account for inflation. Some users are having trouble with the electronic signature. And while it’s up and running, you may still experience periods where it’s down for maintenance as they work to fix the bugs that users are encountering. Hopefully the federal government will have these issues resolved quickly,

Stay on top of the latest news by following the official Federal Student Aid Facebook page.

For more information, check out the Federal Student Aid website.