FAFSA Simplification

1. The student’s housing choice
2. The student’s, spouse’s, and parents’ untaxed income that does not appear on the IRS 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR tax return (such as untaxed payments to tax-deferred pension and retirement saving plans represented by IRS Form W-2 Box 12 codes D, E, F, G, H, and S; housing, food, and other living allowances paid to members of the military, clergy, and others; etc.).
3. The student’s interest in Federal Work-Study (FWS) employment
4. Taxable earnings from need-based employment (such as need-based employment portions of fellowships and assistantships).
5. Excluded income for the student, spouse, and parents. This includes other income items that have been reported under “Additional Financial Information” on the FAFSA and excluded from need analysis in prior years (such as taxable combat pay and special combat pay and cooperative education program earnings). Child support received is still reported, but as assets rather than income.
6. The student’s driver’s license number and state
7. Highest school completed by the student’s parents. This question now asks whether either parent attended college.
8. The college degree or certificate the student will be working on when he, she, or they begin the award year. The assumption is that the school has this information in its admissions/academic/registration records. Grade level is still reported.
9. Whether the student or parent filed IRS Schedule 1. The FAFSA now asks if the student, spouse, or parent filed Schedule A, B, D, E, F, or H with their IRS Form 1040. It also asks for the net profit or loss from Schedule C.
10. The dislocated worker question

A contributor is anyone who is asked to provide information on an applicant’s FAFSA, including:

• the student
• The student’s spouse (if applicable)
• a biological or adoptive parent; or
• the spouse of the remarried parent who is on the FAFSA – the stepparent

The new FAFSA is student driven, so that means the student’s answers on their section will determine who will be a contributor (in addition to the student). Students 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 the FAFSA. Contributors will need to provide personal and financial information on their section of the FAFSA.

All contributors are required to have an FSA ID and to provide consent to have their federal tax information (FTI) transferred from the IRS, have their tax data used to determine the student’s eligibility for aid, and allow the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to share their tax information with institutions and state higher education agencies for the administration of Title IV aid. Consent is provided once for the award year and cannot be revoked in that award year. This consent is necessary even if the contributor does not have a SSN, did not file taxes, or filed taxes in another country.

Contributors cannot avoid providing consent by manually entering FTI on the FAFSA. If a student or spouse (if applicable) contributor does not provide consent, they will not be eligible for any Title IV aid. If a parent contributor refuses to provide consent, the student will be given the opportunity to indicate they would like to receive only a Direct Unsubsidized Loan.

If a dependent student’s parents are unmarried and living together, both parents will be contributors, need separate FSA IDs, and need to provide consent. Dependent students’ parents who filed their U.S. income tax return as Married Filing Jointly only require one parent contributor to complete the FAFSA. If the student’s parents filed separately, both parents will be considered contributors and therefore need separate FSA IDs, and both must provide consent. The same is true for the independent student. If an independent student is married and filed separately, both individuals are contributors, must have FSA IDs, and must provide consent in order for the student to be eligible for Title IV aid.

Student Aid Index (SAI) will replace the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) which will determine how much federal student aid the student would receive. Whereas the EFC can go as low as 0, the SAI can now go as low as -1500. As with EFC, a higher SAI leads to less financial aid, while a lower SAI increases a student’s eligibility for need-based financial aid.

Pell Grant eligibility guidelines are now based on adjusted gross income (AGI), family size and poverty guidelines for the state of legal residence. See eligibility requirements below:

• Maximum Pell Grant = if considered single with an AGI equal to or less than 225% of the poverty line. If not single and AGI is equal to or less than 175% of poverty line.
• Minimum Pell Grant = If AGI is either equal to or less than 325% or 275% of the poverty line for a dependent student. Or 400%, 350%, or 275% of the poverty line for an independent student.
• Student Aid Index (SAI) = Students may still qualify for Pell Grant if their calculated SAI is less than the maximum Pell Grant award for the award year.

Pell Grant eligibility is no longer based on enrollment, but “Enrollment Intensity,” which is defined as the percentage of full-time enrollment for a student, rounded to the nearest whole percent. For example, full-time enrollment is 12 hours, and if a student is enrolled in 7 hours, the enrollment intensity would be 7 hours enrolled / 12 hours for full-time* 100% of potential Pell = 58% of Pell eligibility. See chart below.

1. Review emails that come from the Office of Financial Aid, as we will be sending out invitations for FAFSA workshops.
2. Log on to studentaid.gov to obtain an FSA ID and password for ALL “Contributors” in the household. Those without a social security number will still be required to obtain an FSA ID and password (see definition above).
3. Contact the Office of Financial Aid with any questions as it relates to eligibility.

Special Circumstances

Cost of Attendance