What is Changing?
Contributors
A contributor refers to anyone who is required to provide information on a student’s FAFSA®, including the student, the student’s spouse, a biological or adopted parent, or the parent’s spouse. Being a contributor does not imply responsibility for the student’s college costs.
- You, the student, will need the contributor’s name, date of birth, Social Security Number (SSN), and email address to invite them to complete the required portion of your FAFSA.
- Contributors will need to provide personal and financial information on their section of your FAFSA. They will only be able to see and complete their own specific sections of your FAFSA.
- All Contributors must provide consent to have their federal tax information (FTI) transferred directly from the IRS to the FAFSA. If consent is not provided by all parties, you will not be eligible for federal financial aid. In previous years, transferring IRS data was optional; moving forward, it’s required.
Terminology
Student Aid Index (SAI)- The final figure calculated by the FAFSA will no longer be called the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Rather, it will be called the Student Aid Index (SAI) to more accurately describe how that number is used to determine financial aid eligibility.
- Instead of a scale of 0 to 999,999, the SAI could be a negative number and the new scale is from -1,500 to 999,999.
FAFSA Submission Summary
- Student Aid Report (SAR) becomes the FAFSA Submission Summary.
- Similarly, the Student Aid Report (SAR) which is the confirmation of what’s been submitted will now be referred to as the FAFSA Submission Summary.
Which Parent to Use on the FAFSA
If your parents are divorced or separated, the contributing parent is the parent (and their spouse, if remarried) who provided the greater portion of your financial support during the 12 months immediately prior to filing the FAFSA.
It no longer will default to the parent you primarily lived with during the past 12 months.
Family Size and Number in College
The number of people in your family size will be automatically pulled in from your Federal Tax Information (FTI).
The number of family members in college will still be asked on the FAFSA, but it will be excluded from the federal, state, and institutional financial aid calculation.
Assets
Child Support Received
The annual amount of child support received (i.e. in the last complete calendar year) should be included in the assets you report.
Small Business and Farm Assets
The net worth of any small business and/or farm must be included on the FAFSA®. Remember, net worth = asset value minus asset debt.
Education Savings Accounts (i.e. 529 Plans)
For dependent students, these accounts will only be counted as a parental asset if the account is designated for the student.
Unusual Circumstances
Dependent students who indicate that they have unusual circumstances that prevent them from providing parent data will no longer receive a rejected FASFA but will instead have their application processed with provisional independent status, a provisional SAI, and an estimate of federal student aid eligibility.
If you are a student in this situation, you must still follow up with the Financial Aid Office to make final determinations.
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