FAFSA Information - Office of Financial Aid & Scholarship Programs

Presentation on January 10, 2024 – Financial Aid for Applicants

Information for students, parents, and families regarding upcoming changes to the FAFSA.

The 2024-2025 FAFSA has fully opened and students are encouraged to complete the application as soon as possible.

Syracuse University is tracking issues and errors associated with the 2024-25 FAFSA.

The 2025-2026 FAFSA will be delayed.

For the 2025-26 academic year, the FAFSA will open on a limited basis for beta testing starting on October 1, 2024.
The form will fully open starting on December 1, 2024.
Students and contributors could encounter issues with the 2025-26 FAFSA, so we encourage students and families to be patient as the Department of Education rolls out the form.
To ensure the timely processing of financial aid, the 2025-26 CSS Profile should be submitted as soon as possible.
Please review our dates and deadlines page for more information.

What can I do to prepare for the FAFSA?

Prepare now so you can complete the 2025–26 FAFSA form as soon as it’s available on or before Dec. 1, 2024. Here are some ways you can get ready:

Create a StudentAid.gov account (if you don’t already have one).
Learn about the documents you may need to fill out the FAFSA form.
Determine your dependency status and whether your parent(s) or spouse will be required to contribute information on your FAFSA form.
If you’re a dependent student, use the Who’s My FAFSA Parent? wizard to identify which parent(s) will be a required contributor on your form.
Learn what it means to provide Consent and Approval on the FAFSA.
Entering students should complete the CSS Profile as soon as possible. The CSS Profile is the application for Syracuse University grant funding and should be completed once during a student’s undergraduate career.
Follow the Department of Education on social media:
- X (formerly Twitter)
- Facebook
- Instagram
- LinkedIn
- YouTube

Instructional videos from Federal Student Aid (FSA):

How to Prepare for the 2024-2025 FAFSA Form

What has changed for the 2024-2025 FAFSA Form?

Who is a Contributor on the 2024-2025 FAFSA Form?

2024-2025 FAFSA Simplification Information:

In 2020, the FAFSA Simplification Act was enacted into law as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. The FAFSA Simplification Act represents a significant overhaul of federal student aid, including the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form.

Changes to the FAFSA

The number of questions on the FAFSA has decreased from over 100 to approximately 36.
The FAFSA will no longer provide an EFC (Expected Family Contribution).
The Student Aid Index (SAI) will be calculated based on the information provided on the FAFSA. Federal Pell Grant and other federal aid eligibility will be determined based on the Student Aid Index (SAI).
Students can list up to 20 schools on their FAFSA via the online application.
The FAFSA now integrates directly with the IRS to import federal tax information onto the FAFSA form.
The definition of family size (formerly household size) has changed to align with the number of individuals reported as dependents on the applicant’s (if independent) or applicant’s parents’ (if dependent) U.S. tax return. Applicants may update their family size if it changes after filing the tax return.
Students, spouses, parents, and stepparents will now need to provide their consent on the FAFSA in the new Consent to Retrieve and Disclose Federal Tax Information section of the FAFSA for federal student aid eligibility.
- This consent will allow the IRS to share Federal Taxpayer Information (FTI) with schools listed on the FAFSA.
- If any party to the FAFSA form does not provide consent, submission of the form will still be allowed. However, a Student Aid Index (SAI) will not be calculated, and the student will not be eligible for Federal Student Aid.

Changes to Calculating Your Aid Eligibility

The 2024-2025 FAFSA will introduce a different measure of a family’s ability to pay for college, and families will experience a change in how the FAFSA calculates eligibility for federal aid.

The new need analysis formula:
- removes the number of family members in college from the calculation
- expands Federal Pell Grant eligibility to more students

Child support received will be included in assets and not as untaxed income.
Families who own a small business/farm that also serves as a primary residence will now have assets of that business/farm considered in their need analysis calculation.

For additional information about FAFSA Simplification and the enhancements to the 2024-2025 FAFSA, please review the Department of Education FAFSA Updates webpage.

New Consent and Approval Process:

The student and any contributors identified on your FAFSA form must provide consent and approval. The consent and approval must be provided, even if one of the contributors does not have a Social Security number, did not file taxes, or filed taxes outside the United States.

If any of the student’s contributors do not provide consent and approval or refuse to provide them, the student will not be eligible for federal student aid.

When the student and their contributors provide consent and approval to the U.S. Department of Education on the FAFSA form, they are agreeing to:

share personally identifiable information provided on the FAFSA form with the IRS,
have federal tax information transferred directly into the FAFSA form,
allow the U.S. Department of Education to use federal tax information to determine eligibility for federal student aid,
all the U.S. Department of Education to share your federal tax information with higher education agencies and the schools listed on the FAFSA form, and
all the U.S. Department of Education to reuse your federal tax information on other FAFSA forms that you are invited to and choose to participate in.