2024-2025 FAFSA Changes
How the FAFSA Simplification Act Affects You
Last updated: November 28, 2023
Big changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application for the 2024-2025 aid year!
For more information on the launch of the 2024-2025 FAFSA, please visit https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/fafsa-support
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.
2024-2025 FAFSA Available in December 2023
Historically, the FAFSA has been available beginning October 1st each year. However, because of significant changes to the application and the rebuild of the FAFSA processing system, the 2024-25 FAFSA will be available December 2023.
What's changing with the FAFSA?
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:
What isn't changing?
While the FAFSA is receiving an update and the aid eligibility calculation has been revised, there are a number of aid-related matters that will not change.
- The general types of aid available to Minnesota State Mankato 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. Families with significant reductions in income can consider submitting a Special Circumstance.
- 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. In fact, Minnesota State Mankato won't even receive this data from the FAFSA.
