Grants

A December Open Date

In the past, the FAFSA form has opened on October 1 of your student’s senior year in high school. This year the new Better FAFSA probably won’t open until December. Federal Student Aid (FSA) hasn’t released a specific date yet. There will be announcements when it’s official.

Shorter FAFSA Form

There’s a new system that allows the FAFSA to pull information directly from your income tax return. You don’t have to go hunting for your past returns anymore. You just need to give your consent for the transfer of data.

The New Student Aid Index

A major goal of the FAFSA Simplification Act is to make the amount of aid your student is eligible for more transparent and predictable. In the past, the FAFSA determined aid using the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC). It was a complicated process even for financial aid specialists. Families often had no idea how much they could receive until they got their financial aid offer from the college.

The new Student Aid Index (SAI) is streamlined and better defined. Under certain circumstances, low-income students can be eligible for need-based aid using only the family’s adjusted gross income taken from their income tax return. The new SAI streamlines procedures for students with more complicated income sources as well.

Families with more than one member in college

Under the old Estimated Family Contribution system, if you had multiple family members in college at the same time, your EFC was split between them. Under the new Student Aid Index, the Better FAFSA will still ask the question, but it doesn’t consider the number of family members in college in its calculations.

For example and using some very simplified numbers: Under the old FAFSA, if your EFC was $3,000 and you had three eligible family members enrolled in college at the same time, each enrolled student could have an EFC of $1,000. This would have increased the amount of federal aid they could receive. Now in the Better FAFSA, each of the three will have an SAI of $3,000, decreasing the amount of federal aid.

“The federal Pell Grant program is the single largest source of federal grant aid supporting postsecondary education students,” according to The Congressional Research Service (August 2022). These grants are need-based, and you don’t have to pay them back. Your FAFSA form determines your Pell Grant amount.

Pell Grants will now be calculated using the SAI or under certain circumstances, your gross Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) from your tax return. This should simplify eligibility.

The SAI and AGI levels for aid have also been adjusted and should result in more students qualifying for more Pell Grant money. Since the new form is shorter and simpler, there’s no excuse not to apply. In fact, it’s always best to file your FAFSA each year whether you think you qualify or not.

Under the new simplified FAFSA, financial aid administrators at colleges must let families know that students who apply for aid can pursue adjustments based on their family and financial circumstances. This process is known as professional judgment. In certain circumstances, it can extend to declared disasters, emergencies or economic downturns. To request a professional judgment, please contact your Enrollment Coach.

As with any new system, there may be a few bumps in the beginning. Filing early is the best way to have the time you need to get into the new system and submit your FAFSA.

The new simplified FAFSA form will be shorter and require much less effort on your part to fill out. But, if at any point you have questions, the TSTC Enrollment Coaches are ready with answers.