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New FAFSA: 10 Key Changes to Know For 2024-25
The new 2024-25 FAFSA is now open, but your financial aid package will likely be delayed. Here are the key changes to know about the simplified form.
Eliza Haverstock Lead Writer | Student loan repayment, paying for college
Eliza Haverstock is NerdWallet's higher education writer, where she covers all aspects of college affordability and student loans. Previously, she reported on billionaires and investing for Forbes in New York, and she also covered private markets for PitchBook in Seattle. Eliza got started at her college newspaper at the University of Virginia and interned for Bloomberg, where she spent a summer writing a feature story about plastic straws. She is based in Washington, D.C.
Karen Gaudette Brewer Lead Assigning Editor | Core Personal Finance, Student Loans, Public Policy
Karen Gaudette Brewer leads the Core Personal Finance team at NerdWallet. Previously, she guided students and their families through the ins and outs of paying for college and managing student debt on the Higher Education team. Helping people navigate complex money decisions and feel more confident brings her great joy: as the daughter of an immigrant, from an early age she was the translator of financial documents and the person who called the credit card company to fix fraud.
She joined NerdWallet with 20 years of experience working in newsrooms and leading editorial teams, most recently as executive editor of HealthCentral. She launched her journalism career with The Associated Press and later worked for The (Riverside) Press-Enterprise, The Seattle Times, PCC Community Markets and Allrecipes.com.
She is a graduate of the 2022 Poynter Institute Leadership Academy for Women in Media. Her writing has been honored by the Society for Features Journalism and the Society of Professional Journalists. In addition, she’s the author of two books about the Pacific Northwest.
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🤓Nerdy Tip
When can I update my FAFSA application? The redesigned FAFSA for the 2024-25 academic year is available at FAFSA.gov. After major delays, the FAFSA corrections process opened on April 16 to students and families who submitted incorrect or incomplete forms.
You can still submit the 2023-24 FAFSA until June 30, 2024.
The 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) looks much different than in previous years. The form now contains far fewer questions, a direct data exchange with the IRS and a new formula that could impact student’s financial aid packages. The changes are the result of the FAFSA Simplification Act, signed into law in 2020.
Roughly 7 million students have submitted the redesigned form as of mid-April, according to the U.S. Education Department. For high school seniors, FAFSA submissions are down about 38% from this time last year, according to the National College Attainment Network’s FAFSA tracker.
The new FAFSA's initial launch was delayed from Oct. 1 to late December. Financial aid offers for 2024-25 will be massively delayed, too. As a result, many schools have moved their decision deadlines from May 1 to June 1.
Despite the rocky roll-out, it’s essential to submit the new FAFSA if you or your child could be in college next fall. It unlocks federal, state and school-based financial aid, including student loans, need-based grants, work-study and even some scholarships. Some state and institutional aid is limited, so submitting the FAFSA soon can expand the pool of aid to which you’ll have access.
Reach out to your college’s financial aid office if you need additional help completing the 2024-25 FAFSA. If you’re a prospective college student, contact your high school college counselor or the financial aid offices of the schools to which you’re applying. Keep in mind that this is also uncharted territory for financial aid administrators, so you might have to wait for an answer.
NerdWallet ratingNerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula for student loan products takes into account more than 50 data points across multiple categories, including repayment options, customer service, lender transparency, loan eligibility and underwriting criteria.
Fixed APR
3.69-17.99%
College Ave Student Loans products are made available through Firstrust Bank, member FDIC, First Citizens Community Bank, member FDIC, or M.Y. Safra Bank, FSB, member FDIC.. All loans are subject to individual approval and adherence to underwriting guidelines. Program restrictions, other terms, and conditions apply. As certified by your school and less any other financial aid you might receive. Minimum $1,000. Rates shown include autopay discount. The 0.25% auto-pay interest rate reduction applies as long as a valid bank account is designated for required monthly payments. If a payment is returned, you will lose this benefit. Variable rates may increase after consummation. This informational repayment example uses typical loan terms for a freshman borrower who selects the Flat Repayment Option with an 8-year repayment term, has a $10,000 loan that is disbursed in one disbursement and a 7.78% fixed Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”): 54 monthly payments of $25 while in school, followed by 96 monthly payments of $176.21 while in the repayment period, for a total amount of payments of $18,266.38. Loans will never have a full principal and interest monthly payment of less than $50. Your actual rates and repayment terms may vary. This informational repayment example uses typical loan terms for a freshman borrower who selects the Deferred Repayment Option with a 10-year repayment term, has a $10,000 loan that is disbursed in one disbursement and a 8.35% fixed Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”): 120 monthly payments of $179.18 while in the repayment period, for a total amount of payments of $21,501.54. Loans will never have a full principal and interest monthly payment of less than $50. Your actual rates and repayment terms may vary. Information advertised valid as of 9/3/2024. Variable interest rates may increase after consummation. Approved interest rate will depend on the creditworthiness of the applicant(s), lowest advertised rates only available to the most creditworthy applicants and require selection of full principal and interest payments with the shortest available loan term.
Variable APR
5.59-17.99%
College Ave Student Loans products are made available through Firstrust Bank, member FDIC, First Citizens Community Bank, member FDIC, or M.Y. Safra Bank, FSB, member FDIC.. All loans are subject to individual approval and adherence to underwriting guidelines. Program restrictions, other terms, and conditions apply. As certified by your school and less any other financial aid you might receive. Minimum $1,000. Rates shown include autopay discount. The 0.25% auto-pay interest rate reduction applies as long as a valid bank account is designated for required monthly payments. If a payment is returned, you will lose this benefit. Variable rates may increase after consummation. This informational repayment example uses typical loan terms for a freshman borrower who selects the Flat Repayment Option with an 8-year repayment term, has a $10,000 loan that is disbursed in one disbursement and a 7.78% fixed Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”): 54 monthly payments of $25 while in school, followed by 96 monthly payments of $176.21 while in the repayment period, for a total amount of payments of $18,266.38. Loans will never have a full principal and interest monthly payment of less than $50. Your actual rates and repayment terms may vary. This informational repayment example uses typical loan terms for a freshman borrower who selects the Deferred Repayment Option with a 10-year repayment term, has a $10,000 loan that is disbursed in one disbursement and a 8.35% fixed Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”): 120 monthly payments of $179.18 while in the repayment period, for a total amount of payments of $21,501.54. Loans will never have a full principal and interest monthly payment of less than $50. Your actual rates and repayment terms may vary. Information advertised valid as of 9/3/2024. Variable interest rates may increase after consummation. Approved interest rate will depend on the creditworthiness of the applicant(s), lowest advertised rates only available to the most creditworthy applicants and require selection of full principal and interest payments with the shortest available loan term.
NerdWallet ratingNerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula for student loan products takes into account more than 50 data points across multiple categories, including repayment options, customer service, lender transparency, loan eligibility and underwriting criteria.
Fixed APR
3.69-15.49%
Lowest rates shown include the auto debit. Advertised APRs for undergraduate students assume a $10,000 loan to a student who attends school for 4 years and has no prior Sallie Mae-serviced loans. Interest rates for variable rate loans may increase or decrease over the life of the loan based on changes to the 30-day Average Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) rounded up to the nearest one-eighth of one percent. Advertised variable rates are the starting range of rates and may vary outside of that range over the life of the loan. Interest is charged starting when funds are sent to the school. With the Fixed and Deferred Repayment Options, the interest rate is higher than with the Interest Repayment Option and Unpaid Interest is added to the loan’s Current Principal at the end of the grace/separation period. To receive a 0.25 percentage point interest rate discount, the borrower or cosigner must enroll in auto debit through Sallie Mae. The discount applies only during active repayment for as long as the Current Amount Due or Designated Amount is successfully withdrawn from the authorized bank account each month. It may be suspended during forbearance or deferment. Advertised APRs are valid as of 9/10/2024. Loan amounts: For applications submitted directly to Sallie Mae, loan amount cannot exceed the cost of attendance less financial aid received, as certified by the school. Applications submitted to Sallie Mae through a partner website will be subject to a lower maximum loan request amount. Miscellaneous personal expenses (such as a laptop) may be included in the cost of attendance for students enrolled at least half-time. Examples of typical costs for a $10,000 Smart Option Student Loan with the most common fixed rate, fixed repayment option, 6-month separation period, and two disbursements: For a borrower with no prior loans and a 4-year in-school period, it works out to a 10.28% fixed APR, 51 payments of $25.00, 119 payments of $182.67 and one payment of $121.71, for a Total Loan Cost of $23,134.44. For a borrower with $20,000 in prior loans and a 2-year in-school period, it works out to a 10.78% fixed APR, 27 payments of $25.00, 179 payments of $132.53 and one payment of $40.35 for a total loan cost of $24,438.22. Loans that are subject to a $50 minimum principal and interest payment amount may receive a loan term that is less than 10 years. A variable APR may increase over the life of the loan. A fixed APR will not.
Variable APR
5.54-15.70%
Lowest rates shown include the auto debit. Advertised APRs for undergraduate students assume a $10,000 loan to a student who attends school for 4 years and has no prior Sallie Mae-serviced loans. Interest rates for variable rate loans may increase or decrease over the life of the loan based on changes to the 30-day Average Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) rounded up to the nearest one-eighth of one percent. Advertised variable rates are the starting range of rates and may vary outside of that range over the life of the loan. Interest is charged starting when funds are sent to the school. With the Fixed and Deferred Repayment Options, the interest rate is higher than with the Interest Repayment Option and Unpaid Interest is added to the loan’s Current Principal at the end of the grace/separation period. To receive a 0.25 percentage point interest rate discount, the borrower or cosigner must enroll in auto debit through Sallie Mae. The discount applies only during active repayment for as long as the Current Amount Due or Designated Amount is successfully withdrawn from the authorized bank account each month. It may be suspended during forbearance or deferment. Advertised APRs are valid as of 9/10/2024. Loan amounts: For applications submitted directly to Sallie Mae, loan amount cannot exceed the cost of attendance less financial aid received, as certified by the school. Applications submitted to Sallie Mae through a partner website will be subject to a lower maximum loan request amount. Miscellaneous personal expenses (such as a laptop) may be included in the cost of attendance for students enrolled at least half-time. Examples of typical costs for a $10,000 Smart Option Student Loan with the most common fixed rate, fixed repayment option, 6-month separation period, and two disbursements: For a borrower with no prior loans and a 4-year in-school period, it works out to a 10.28% fixed APR, 51 payments of $25.00, 119 payments of $182.67 and one payment of $121.71, for a Total Loan Cost of $23,134.44. For a borrower with $20,000 in prior loans and a 2-year in-school period, it works out to a 10.78% fixed APR, 27 payments of $25.00, 179 payments of $132.53 and one payment of $40.35 for a total loan cost of $24,438.22. Loans that are subject to a $50 minimum principal and interest payment amount may receive a loan term that is less than 10 years. A variable APR may increase over the life of the loan. A fixed APR will not.
Credible lets you check with multiple student loan lenders to get rates with no impact to your credit score. Visit their website to take the next steps.
1. All contributors need FSA IDs
On the new FAFSA, each person who submits information is called a “contributor.” This could include the student, the student's spouse, one or both biological or adoptive parents or the parent's spouse. Each contributor needs a unique FSA ID (which is their StudentAid.gov username and password) to log in and complete their portion of the form.
Request your FSA ID on studentaid.gov. Expect a three-day turnaround time after you request it. Students won’t be able to submit the FAFSA until every contributor has their FSA ID.
Starting with the 2024-25 form, the parent who provided the most financial support for the student over the last 12 months will be the FAFSA contributor. If this parent is remarried and didn’t file their taxes jointly, their spouse will also be a contributor.
In past years, the FAFSA used the financial information of the parent whom the student lived with the majority of the time, regardless of whether they provided the most financial support.
All contributors must agree to allow the IRS to directly import their federal tax information to the FAFSA. The “direct data exchange” is intended to make it easier for families to fill out the form, since they won’t need to dig up their tax returns and manually enter the information.
While a student can still submit their FAFSA if any contributor doesn’t consent to this process, they won’t be eligible for federal student aid.
4. Delay impacts some state financial aid forms
Some states have their own financial aid forms, separate from the federal one. In seven states — Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont — these state aid forms pull some information directly from a student’s FAFSA to streamline the process. However, due to the FAFSA changes and delay, students can’t auto-populate their financial aid forms in these states for 2024-25.
Be sure to keep track of your financial aid deadlines for your state and university (or target universities, if you’re a prospective student).
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The information you include on the FAFSA determines your SAI, which is an index number used by college financial aid offices to calculate need-based financial aid. Your need will be calculated by subtracting your SAI from the school's cost of attendance.
6. Pell Grant award expands
The need-based Pell Grant gives students free college aid that doesn’t need to be repaid. With the new FAFSA formula, 610,000 additional students from low-income backgrounds will be eligible for Pell Grants who wouldn’t have been under the previous form, according to the U.S. Education Department. Additionally, 1.7 million students will be newly eligible for the maximum Pell award: $7,395 per year.
Here are some key changes to know about how the new FAFSA treats Pell calculations:
Maximum annual grants will be awarded based on family size, adjusted gross income (AGI) and poverty guidelines.
Students who don’t qualify for the maximum Pell Grant could still receive funds if their SAI is less than the Pell Grant maximum.
If a student’s SAI is greater than the maximum Pell Grant award, they could receive a minimum grant award if they qualify based on family size, AGI and poverty guidelines.
In recent years, the FAFSA was available in English and Spanish only. The new FAFSA is available in the 11 most common languages spoken in the U.S., making it accessible to a greater number of students and their families.
The new FAFSA contains significantly fewer questions. Some students will only have to answer 18 questions on the new form, depending on their circumstances; the 2023-24 FAFSA included up to 103 questions.
Two controversial questions were axed. Students no longer must register for the Selective Service in order to complete the FAFSA, and the question was removed from the application. Additionally, drug-related convictions alone no longer disqualify applicants, and the question isn’t included on the FAFSA.
9. You can list more colleges
Prospective students can list up to 20 colleges on their FAFSA for 2024-25, up from 10 in previous years.
The schools you list will automatically receive a copy of the information you submit in the FAFSA, which they can use to calculate your financial aid package.
Parents no longer get a break for having multiple children in college at the same time.
The new FAFSA still asks a question about other people in a student’s household attending college, but it won’t be figured into federal financial aid calculations. Some colleges may consider this factor when determining institutional aid, though.
