By Briana Dunn, Staff Writer

A new version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now available for college students for the 2024-2025 school year. This version is designed to be a simpler application process for students and parents and to increase their eligibility for funding.

The FAFSA form, usually available beginning in October, became available on Dec. 31, 2023. This version was shortened from 108 questions to somewhere between 36 to 46 questions, and will be available in the 11 commonly spoken languages, among other key changes. 

These alterations were made based on the FAFSA Simplification Act that was passed into federal law by President Joe Biden in 2020. The act expanded the Federal Pell Grant to more students and eligibility to family size.

Anyone who provides information on an individual’s FAFSA form is considered a contributor. The form will tell students who needs to be a contributor based on a respondent’s responses to certain questions.

Previously, only the applying student and one parent were required to have an FSA ID. FSA IDs are now required for all contributors, such as a student’s biological or adoptive parent, a stepparent or the student’s spouse. Students or users must have their own ID and StudentAid.gov account to access, share information for, sign and submit the form.

The Student Aid Index will replace the Expected Family Contribution to determine the amount a student may receive in financial aid. This calculation will account for a larger Income Protection Allowance, lowering the amount of student or parent income considered available to pay for college.

The new Student Aid Index formula does not include a sibling discount, and families with multiple students in college may receive less aid. Students from families not required to file federal income taxes will automatically be considered for higher aid.

Although the application will have fewer questions, all contributors must consent to using the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Data Retrieval Tool to directly import their IRS information into the FAFSA. In previous years, the tool was optional, but all contributors must consent for students to be eligible for aid.

The Department of Education estimates 610,000 new students will be eligible for federal Pell Grants with the new form. It allows 1.5 million more students to receive the maximum Pell Grant award, which was $7,395 last year.

The FAFSA Submission Summary is replacing the Student Aid Report. This is not an aid offer but is designed to highlight a student’s eligibility for federal student aid, including Federal Pell Grants and eligibility for federal loans. The summary will include the answers submitted on the FAFSA form and the Student Aid Index, while providing verification selection.

The relaunch was supposed to include the most recent inflation data in the Student Aid Index. However, the inflation level was not updated for the new FAFSA and remains at that of April 2020. This exclusion can make some students eligible for smaller aid awards.

The Department of Education has not stated whether these numbers will be updated for the 2024-2025 FAFSA but doing so could cause more delays for students to receive their aid offers, which many groups have faced from user issues with the form.

The Department of Education reports that the relaunch will increase low- and middle-income students’ eligibility for financial aid awards and provide a smoother application process for all applicants.