The FAFSA changes every year, sometimes in significant ways (as it did during COVID) and sometimes in negligible ways. To ensure that you have accurate expectations about the federal student aid application process, remember to check annually whether there are any FAFSA changes before applying on behalf of yourself or your child!
Rising College Costs & Why Federal Student Aid is Important
Generally, college in the United States is incredibly expensive. On average, in-state public university tuition is about $10,000 a year, out-of-state public university tuition is about $30,000 a year, and private university tuition is about $40,000 a year. Ivy League schools often charge closer to $50,000-$70,000 per year. These numbers increase annually, with a nearly 7% annual growth rate.
This doesn’t even take into account housing, living expenses, and other educational expenses such as textbooks and technology which, depending on the city where your college is located, can add $15,000-$20,000 per year.
The majority of United States citizens make a salary lower than these figures and could not afford tuition alone, let alone living expenses, without student aid, grants, loans, or scholarships. That’s where the FAFSA comes in.
What is the FAFSA?
The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. High school seniors and college students can fill out the FAFSA form ahead of every year they attend college to receive financial aid from the federal government for their college education. This aid is distributed based on the income of the student’s family.
Students and/or parents who fill out the FAFSA will require their tax information from the previous year, notably their adjusted gross income. This is what it uses to determine your eligibility for aid. The information you provide with the FAFSA can also impact the financial aid you receive directly from a private university. (Many private colleges also require students to also fill out the CSS Profile.)
Typically, a student who is eligible for student aid will receive a mix of several forms of aid (in conjunction with aid directly from their university or scholarships) to pay for their university expenses. Aid from the FAFSA can come in the form of grants, work-study eligibility, and loans.
Grants
Grants provide money (in this case, to college students) without the expectation that you will repay the grant giver. The Pell Grant is the most widely distributed federal grant and is given only to undergraduate students who demonstrate exceptional financial need.
If your family’s income is under or around the poverty line—or far below the cost of attendance for college—you may receive a Pell Grant as a result of the FAFSA. More specifically: students whose families have a total income beneath the threshold for filing taxes & those with a total income below 175% of the federal poverty line (225% if filing separately) will receive a maximum Pell Grant.
While the Pell Grant does not need to be paid back to the federal government, its continued renewal is contingent upon your full-time or part-time enrollment, the semesters you are enrolled in school, and your family’s income. The maximum amount you can receive for one school year is currently about $7,395.
Aside from the Pell Grant, there are a few other federal grants available to students, such as the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG).
Work-Study
Federal Work-Study pays students to work part-time while attending university. Students work (often in conjunction with their area of study) and gain experience while earning income. Work-Study is only available at universities that participate in the Federal Work-Study Program and there is a limit to how many hours you can work and how much money you can earn, based on your financial need.
Loans
In addition to grants and work-study, the federal government provides federal student loans to both parents and students to help students pay for their time at university.
If you do not qualify for a grant or work-study, you may qualify for a loan.
- Direct Subsidized Loans are eligible to students with financial need and have terms concerning repayment and interest that are easier on students post-graduation.
- Direct Unsubsidized Loans are eligible to students regardless of financial need.
- Direct PLUS Loans are eligible to graduate students or parents of undergraduate students.
There is a limit to how much students can borrow each year, dependent on their financial needs and their school’s cost of attendance.
How is the FAFSA Form Changing This Year?
In the last few years, the federal government passed the FAFSA Simplification Act (issued in conjunction with the second COVID-19 relief bill), which made completing the FAFSA simpler for students and parents, thereby making aid more accessible. These changes included a simplified user interface, a reduction in the number of questions, translation of the FAFSA into more languages, and an improved aid process that expanded the student eligibility requirements.
FAFSA Changes for 2024-25
This year, there are a handful of changes you should be aware of in order to complete the student aid application process. Each year you renew your FAFSA, you’ll want to study up on all the new differences. Remember to visit StudentAid.gov to create an account & access the FAFSA form.
1. Contributor Access to the Form
A contributor is any person who must provide information on the FAFSA form. This could be a student, biological/adoptive parent, the student’s spouse, or the parent’s spouse. As of 2024-25, each contributor must have a StudentAid.gov account in order to access and fill out their section of the FAFSA.
The primary individual completing the FAFSA will invite contributors to create their account and enter their information on the form using the contributor’s name, SSN, email address, and date of birth. (Contributors without an SSN will be invited using their mailing address, instead.)
2. IRS–FAFSA Direct Connection
The FAFSA will now pull financial information directly from the IRS, instead of requiring the manual entry of all necessary information from their tax return. All contributors to your FAFSA must provide consent & approval for a direct data exchange from the IRS to the student’s FAFSA form.
If a contributor does not approve this data exchange, the student may still complete the FAFSA form—but they will be ineligible for federal student aid.
3. Expanded List of Colleges
Those completing the FAFSA must list at least one college (or trade/career school) to receive their student aid information. This list of schools can include schools to which you might apply or have already applied—just make sure you include all the schools you’ll potentially apply to. A few days after you submit your FAFSA, the institutions on your list will have access to your financial aid information.
With the FAFSA application for the 2024-25 school year, your list of schools can now include up to 20 institutions online (or 10 on the FAFSA PDF form). So, there’s no reason to leave out any possible schools of choice!
Can You Make Too Much Money To Qualify for FAFSA?
If you come from a middle-class family or even from a wealthy family that will not help you pay for your education, you may be wondering, What is the maximum income to qualify for FAFSA this year? Well, there is no maximum income to qualify—each family’s financial situation is evaluated through the FAFSA application. It is not determined by looking at income alone.
This is why everyone who is applying to college is strongly advised to apply for the FAFSA. Even if you think your family makes too little to be able to attend college even with aid or too much to qualify for student aid, you may still receive aid from the federal government for college.
Financial Aid Options Outside of the FAFSA
The recent FAFSA changes may increase the amount of aid you receive. If you don’t qualify for a grant or work-study, you may still be eligible for federal loans – it is recommended to apply for a loan through the federal government rather than a private firm, as the interest rates and other terms are typically less aggressive.
Furthermore, the information you provide on the FAFSA, in conjunction with your academic experience and strengths, can impact the aid you receive from private universities. If you did not qualify for federal aid but still cannot afford your dream college’s tuition, the university itself may offer you aid that will make tuition affordable.
Many families are in a spot where they cannot afford college, but federal need-based aid still does not cover the cost. In addition, undocumented students still aren’t eligible for federal student aid, hindering them from accessing higher education. Regardless of your situation (and even if you are expecting need-based aid), make sure that you apply for state-specific aid as well as merit-based aid and scholarships. These programs look at students’ grades, volunteer work, and test scores—such as the SAT and ACT—to determine scholarships awards.
For example, the Questbridge Scholarships, available through the Questbridge National College Match, are full scholarships to 45 different universities available to students from low-income families. Plus, if you’re in or ahead of your Junior year, you can qualify for the National Merit Scholarship with your 11th grade PSAT score. There are so many scholarship opportunities out there—research to find one that’s right for you!
Stand Out From the Crowd with Piqosity Test Prep
The FAFSA changes in the last few years have increased the number of students that can apply and qualify for federal student aid and will give more students the means to attend college.
Again, one way you can increase your chances of getting merit-based aid is to perform well on the standardized tests that are a component of many college applications. Ensure that you prepare for your college admissions tests ahead of time and study if you need to retake the exam and improve your score.
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