FAFSA Simplification Act and Changes to the 2024-25 FAFSA
NEW 2024-25

Dear Campus Colleagues,

Significant changes are coming to the federal financial aid process in the 2024-25 academic year as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 and 2022. The Department of Education has described these changes as the most ambitious and significant redesign of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the application process and the formulas used to determine aid eligibility, since the Reagan era. As colleagues who work closely with the financial aid team in the awarding of more than $500 million in financial aid annually, we are alerting you to these changes in preparation for the 2024-25 academic year.

FAFSA Simplification
The FAFSA Simplification Act will streamline the application process for federal aid applicants by reducing the number of questions on the FAFSA form and providing a direct data exchange with the IRS. The Act will also expand eligibility for Federal Pell Grants and reduce barriers for some populations of students.

State and institutional aid programs are also dependent on the federal aid process, including the California Dream Act Application (CADAA), Cal Grant, Middle Class Scholarship and university grant awarding. We are working closely with our colleagues at the California Student Aid Commission and UC Office of the President to understand and prepare for downstream changes at the state and campus levels for 2024-25.

Important FAFSA Changes
Many of the processes, terminology and eligibility requirements we are all familiar with will be changing, including:

• The FAFSA and CADAA are expected to open December 31, 2023, instead of the traditional October 1st date.
• New terminology will be used throughout the federal aid process.
• The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) will be replaced by the Student Aid Index (SAI).
• A new federal need-analysis formula will be used to measure a family’s ability to pay for college that allows for a minimum SAI of -$1,500.
• A separate eligibility determination criteria links family size and the federal poverty level to Federal Pell Grant eligibility.
• All FAFSA contributors (students, parent(s), and/or spouse) will be required to have an FSA ID and consent to sharing information with the IRS to submit the FAFSA.

Considerations for Campus Partners
We anticipate many campus partners who have a connection with financial aid could be impacted by these changes. This includes departments and programs providing need-based funding and/or services to financial aid recipients, as well as partners utilizing financial aid data for reporting. More than 23,000 undergraduate students receive some form of financial aid and nearly 11,000, or 32% of the undergraduate population are Federal Pell Grant recipients. We encourage our campus partners to begin considering how changes in the student population, including a possible increase in Federal Pell Grant recipients, may impact the services and resources your department provides.

Key Takeaways
A change of this magnitude will require professional and student staff to support financial aid applicants navigating these changes. The Financial Aid and Scholarships team is preparing resources to help you serve students and families.

As a starting point, Enrollment Management Creative Services created a document that highlights many of the changes, including important dates and planning considerations for 2024-25. Our office will soon begin engaging campus stakeholders to present the changes as well as our initial analysis of how our financial aid population may change. If you represent a department, college, school or division and are interested in a Better FAFSA Better Future presentation for your area, please contact us. We will do our best to accommodate requests and appreciate your scheduling flexibility.

What can you do now?
The Department of Education is sharing information, updates and changes related to Better FAFSA Better Future regularly. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the resources readily available, including:

• FAFSA Changes Overview
• Better FAFSA Better Future Overview Video
• Federal Student Aid Estimator
• New: Update from ED on 24-25 FAFSA Release - 11/15/23

More information is available on our FAFSA Simplification webpage. We will continue to provide updates, resources and support to the UC San Diego community as we navigate these changes together.

We hope this early notification of changes will help you plan and reduce impacts to the services and resources you provide to students. We appreciate your patience and support.

Silvia Marquez (she/her/ella)
Executive Director, Financial Aid and Scholarships Office

Jim Rawlins
Associate Vice Chancellor, Enrollment Management

UPDATES from May 1, 2024

If you have not yet submitted your 2024-25 FAFSA, the deadline to complete and submit applications for financial aid consideration is Thursday, May 2. Because many Mixed Status Families (MSF) are still encountering issues when submitting a FAFSA, it is important that all students follow the guidelines below.

COMPLETE THESE STEPS:

1. Complete a California Dream Act Application (CADAA) by the May 2 deadline to ensure you have filed “on time” for state and institutional aid consideration.
   • The California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) has opened the CADAA to continuing MSF students, similar to what they have done for first-year admits.
   • Students who can successfully complete and submit a FAFSA application with no issues, should not complete a CADAA. The CADAA does not provide access to federal student aid.
2. All students will still need to complete a FAFSA to be eligible for all forms of aid, including Federal Pell Grants, Federal Work-Study and Direct Loans.
   • FSA IDs: While each contributor must have an FSA ID, the Department of Education has temporarily removed the need for identity validation for contributors without an SSN to submit the FAFSA form.
     • If your contributor has a StudentAid.gov account and is awaiting the results of the identity validation process, they do not need to wait for their identity to be validated nor do they need to resubmit any documentation to complete the 2024-25 FAFSA form. They should receive an email from The Department that they can now access the FAFSA form.
     • Your contributor can check the status of their identity validation on their StudentAid.gov dashboard, on the Personal Information page of their Account Settings. If their status is “no-SSN” with a green check icon, they may progress to the FAFSA form.
     • Note: If your contributor has not yet created a StudentAid.gov account, OR if their account does not show a status of “no-SSN” with a green check icon and they have not received an email notifying them of this temporary change, they will need to follow the instructions for individuals without an SSN to create a StudentAid.gov account, as they are not currently in the Department’s system. Once they create their account, they should be able to proceed to the FAFSA form.

The UC San Diego Financial Aid and Scholarships Office is committed to supporting all students and their families. We recognize the multiple challenges faced by students and families trying to access and submit the 2024-25 FAFSA, especially those trying to apply for an FSA ID through the new federal process. We are acutely aware that our students from mixed-status families, i.e., eligible students whose parent contributor(s) do not have a Social Security Number, are currently unable to submit the 2024-25 FAFSA.

We understand the application barriers faced by our mixed-status families are beyond the student’s control. Our goal is to ensure students facing these barriers receive the maximum amount of federal, state and institutional financial aid they are eligible for in the 2024-25 academic year once the FAFSA is processed.

We encourage all other eligible students and contributors to create the FSA ID and start their FAFSA as soon as possible and no later than May 2, if they have not already done so. For families unable to submit the application due to the system barriers, rest assured we are here for you and will continue to work with you.

We are committed to:

• advocating at the federal, state and local levels to resolve these issues as quickly as possible;
• communicating information to you as it becomes available and;
• generating 2024-25 financial aid offers as soon as possible for newly admitted and continuing students

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Update on Access to the 2024-25 FAFSA Form for Individuals Without a Social Security Number | Knowledge Center