How to Apply for Financial Aid

The 2025–26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form is open.

Big changes are coming to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid application (FAFSA) for the 2024-2025 aid year! 

The FAFSA Simplification Act was passed by Congress in 2020 and represents a significant overhaul of the processes and systems used to award federal student aid. This includes the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, the need analysis that determines federal aid eligibility, changes in terminology, and many policies and procedures for schools that participate in federal student aid programs.

There are a number of benefits of the FAFSA simplification act, including a more streamlined application process and a better user experience for the FAFSA, expanded eligibility for federal student aid, and reduced barriers for certain student populations (e.g., homeless and unaccompanied youth, incarcerated students, English language learners, and students from low-income backgrounds).

Some fundamental changes include, but are not limited to:

• The FAFSA will be shorter and more user-friendly. The FAFSA will reduce the maximum number of questions from 108 to 46. And because the FAFSA on the Web is dynamic, some students won't even be presented with all 46 questions. This streamlined format will simplify the application process and make it less daunting for students and their families.
• The FAFSA will be Role-Based. Students and parents will only see their questions related to their role. When a student logs in, they will only be able to see questions that should be answered by the student, and the parent or spouse will need to log in to see the questions related to their role.
• Students may list up to 20 colleges. Previously, the FAFSA only allowed students to list up to 10 colleges and universities.
• The FAFSA will be available in more languages. The application will be expanded to include the 11 most common languages spoken by English learner students and their parents.
• Applicants will be required to use the IRS Direct Data Exchange. All persons on the FAFSA MUST CONSENT for the Department of Education to receive tax information or confirmation of non-filing status directly from the IRS even if they did not file 2022 taxes. This change makes it easier to complete the FAFSA and reduces the number of questions to be answered.
• All contributors must provide financial information. A contributor refers to anyone who is required to provide information on a student's form (such as a parent/stepparent or spouse). A student's or parent's answers on the FAFSA will determine which contributors (if any) will be required to provide information.
• The Student Aid Index (SAI) is replacing Expected Family Contribution (EFC). This name more accurately describes the number used to determine aid eligibility and, unlike the EFC, the SAI may be a negative number down to -1500.
• The number in college will not be used to calculate SAI. The application will still ask how many household members are in college, but your answer will not be calculated into the SAI. As such, undergraduate students with siblings in college may see a change in their federal aid eligibility.
• The parent responsible for submitting the FAFSA in cases of divorce or separation has changed. For dependent students, financial information was previously needed from the parent(s) the student had lived with the most in the last 12 months. With the new FAFSA, financial information will be required from the parent(s) who provided the most financial support to the student.
• Family farms and small businesses must be reported as assets. Families must now report the value of their small business or family farm. If the family farm includes the principal place of residence, applicants should determine the total net value of all farm assets and subtract the net value of their principal residence to determine the final value of their farm assets.
• Enrollment Intensity Adjustments for Pell Grants A student’s Scheduled Pell Grant award will be multiplied by the student’s Enrollment Intensity percentage to determine their Annual Pell Grant Award.Enrollment Intensity is the percentage of full-time enrollment at which a student is enrolled, rounded to the nearest whole percent. For example, if full-time enrollment is 12 or more credit hours and the student is enrolled in 7 credits, the enrollment intensity would be (7 ÷ 12) x 100 = 58%. The student’s full-time Scheduled Pell Grant for the term would then be multiplied by the student’s Enrollment Intensity percentage to determine their Pell Grant amount.

• The general types of aid available to students and federal student loan limits will not change.
• The FAFSA will still be required for consideration of federal and state financial aid every year.
• Dependency status questions that determine if your parent(s) must complete the FAFSA will remain the same.
• The FAFSA will still request tax information from the prior-prior year, which means you'll report 2022 income and assets on your 2024-25 application.
• The questions regarding an applicant's gender, race, and ethnicity will have no effect on federal student aid eligibility and are included for statistical purposes and data collection only.

Students who plan to begin classes at in the fall of 2024 should complete the FAFSA as soon as it becomes available. The Department of Education has indicated that students will be able to complete the 2024-25 FAFSA by December 31st and schools will begin receiving FAFSA data by January 31st.

What you can do now -  Make sure to create your StudentAid.gov account—and remember your username and password so you can access and submit the 2024–25 FAFSA form when it’s available. If your parent(s) or spouse will need to contribute to your form, make sure each contributor creates their own StudentAid.gov account

• If your FAFSA® Form Is Missing a Contributor’s Consent and Approval then your contributor must do the following:
  • Log in and go to their account Dashboard.
  • Select the FAFSA form that indicates “Action Required” under the “My Activity” section.
  • Select “Approve.”
  • Provide their consent and approval.
  • Navigate through the form.
  • Sign and submit their section of the form.

• If You Filed your FAFSA® Form Using an Incorrect Social Security Number (SSN) do the following:
  • Log in and update your information in your Account Settings.
  • Once the Social Security Administration (SSA) verifies your account status, update the information on your FAFSA form by selecting “Make a Correction.”
  • Once the information on your FAFSA form has been updated, navigate through the rest of the form.
  • Sign and submit the form.
  • If you believe that the SSN you reported is correct, then follow the instructions for updating the SSA and the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC):
  • Contact the SSA by calling 1-800-772-1213 or by visiting ssa.gov to either confirm your SSN or request that they update their records.
  • Once SSA resolves the issue, contact the FSAIC at 1-800-433-3243.
  • Ask the FSAIC to manually sync their data with the SSA. You’ll be notified by email once a match is confirmed.
  • Reach out to your college’s or career school’s financial aid office to inform them of the update.

• Changes to Federal School Codes: If You Want to Add or Delete a School
  • If you want to make your FAFSA information available to an additional school after your FAFSA is processed
  • Log in and go to your account Dashboard.
  • Select the submitted FAFSA form.
  • Select the processed FAFSA submission in the “My Activity” section.
  • Select the “Add or Remove Schools” button.
  • Search for the school by entering either the school code or the state, city, and/or school name and then select “Search.”
  • Select the school from the search results. The school’s Federal School Code will appear in the form.
  • Submit the update.

Note: No more than 20 schools may be listed on your 2024–25 FAFSA form at one time. (The FAFSA PDF has space for only 10 schools, while the online FAFSA form allows 20 to be listed.) If there are 20 schools on your FAFSA form, any new school codes that are added will replace one or more of the school codes already listed. Any school removed from the list won’t have automatic access to new FAFSA information you provided after you removed that school. However, the school will still have the data you submitted when you listed that school on the FAFSA form.

Updates: If Your Situation Has Changed

Most information cannot be updated because it must be accurate as of the day you originally signed your FAFSA form. For example, if you spent some of your savings after filing the FAFSA form, you may not update your information to show a change in that amount. You should speak to the financial aid office at the college or career/trade school you plan to attend if there will be a significant change in your or your parent’s income for the present year or if your family has other circumstances that cannot be reported on the FAFSA form.

If your personal circumstances change and impact your dependency status after you submit your FAFSA form, contact your school’s financial aid office to ask if they have a policy that allows you to update your answers to the personal circumstance questions. The financial aid staff will tell you what to do.

Federal tax information transferred directly from the IRS cannot be changed on your online FAFSA form. If you filed an IRS Form 1040-X amended return, contact your college’s or career school’s financial aid office to discuss whether it would be appropriate for the school to adjust the information on your FAFSA form

On the 2024–25 FAFSA form, dependent students have the option to indicate that their parents are unwilling to provide their information and therefore want to apply for only a Direct Unsubsidized Loan. However, if a dependent student doesn’t provide parent information, their eligibility for other types of federal student aid can’t be calculated. This means they won’t be eligible for a Federal Pell Grant, Federal Work-Study, or a Direct Subsidized Loan.

If you selected to apply for only a Direct Unsubsidized Loan by mistake, follow the steps below to change your answer to this question and invite your parent(s) to your form.

Step Seven

Review the next steps included on the “Section Complete” page. To complete your form, your parent(s) must log in, complete their section, provide their consent and approval and signature, and submit the correction.

 

Note: The Estimated Annual Amounts displayed above are subject to change for each individual student. The amounts provided are for the maximum award amount for each program and is not guaranteed to each student.

1 Maximum amount shown is based off of a student enrolled full-time (12 units) with a 0 EFC. Pell grant will be prorated based off of students enrollment (full-time, half-time, three-quarter time, or less than half time).

2 SEOG awards are made on a first-come basis until designated funds are exhausted.

3 Applicable for Bachelor Program students only. Award amounts vary depending on enrollment. Must be enrolled in at least half-time (6 units).

4 Will be prorated based off of students enrollment. Must be enrolled in at least half-time (6 units).

5 Will be prorated based off of students enrollment. Must be enrolled in at least half-time (6 units).

6 This includes what the student is eligible for in Cal Grant A, B, or C and up to an access award of up to $6,000 for qualifying Cal Grant A and B recipients and up to $4,000 for eligible Cal Grant C recipients.

7 Students enrolled in 12 to 14.99 units may be eligible for up to $1,298 annually. Students enrolled in 15 or more units may be eligible for up to $4,000 annually.

8 Applicable to eligible foster care youth. 

9Freshman or students who have completed 29 units or less may be eligible for up to $3,500. Sophomores or Students who have completed 30 or more units may be eligible for up to $4,500. Juniors/Seniors in the Bachelors Degree Program may be eligible for up to $5,500.

10 Dependent students may be eligible for up to $2,000. Independent students may be eligible for up to $6,000.

StudentAid.gov Account Creation Instructions (step-by-step) for Individuals Without a Social Security Number (SSN)

This process outlines the steps needed in order for an individual without an SSN to have their identity verified and StudentAid.gov account created.

Step 1: An individual should visit StudentAid.gov, select “Create Account” and complete all steps, including answering 1-4 knowledge-based verification questions via TransUnion®.

Step 2: Upon completing the Create Account process, the individual will see a confirmation page with the results of their identity verification. If they fail the TransUnion® process, FSA will automatically assign a case number to the individual.

Step 3: Once the case number is created, FSA will send them a verification email in their preferred language (English or Spanish), which will include their case number, along with guidance on how to submit copies of unexpired acceptable documentation (listed below) to verify their identity. Individuals will also be required to submit an attestation and validation of identity form along with their approved identity documentation. This form will be available on https://studentaid.gov/forms-library.

Acceptable Documents to Establish an Individual’s Identity: 

Provide one (1) of the following documents to establish identity:

U.S. Driver’s License

U.S. State/City Identification Card

Foreign Passport

or

One (1) set of documents below to establish identity:

Municipal Identification Cards + utility bill

Community ID + utility bill

Consular Identification Cards/Matricula Consular + utility bill

Step 4: Upon receipt of the email that FSA was unable to verify their identity, an individual is then required to submit one or a combination of their acceptable documentation from the list above and a signed attestation form to: IDVerification@ed.gov.

Step 5: FSA will review an individual’s submitted documentation and signed attestation form to ensure it is acceptable and matches the account information provided during the Create Account process. If there is a successful match, the Department will finalize the account creation. The individual will receive an email indicating their identity has been verified and that they may now use their account username and password (FSA ID) to log in at StudentAid.gov and complete applications for student financial assistance programs.

For more infromation click the below link: 

How to Submit the 2024-25 FAFSA Form if Your Contributor Doesn’t Have a Social Security number (SSN)