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Changes to FAFSA

FAFSA Simplification

Congress instituted the FAFSA Simplification Act, which was a sweeping redesign of the processes and systems used to award federal student aid. These changes impacted the FAFSA application itself starting with the 24-25 academic year.

Changes in Terminology

The EFC (Estimated Family Contribution) is now the SAI (Student Aid Index).
Room and Board is now Food and Housing.
Parents and/or a student's spouse are now Contributors.
The Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) is now the Direct Data Exchange (DDX).
The Student Aid Report (SAR) is now the FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS)

Changes in the FAFSA Itself

All students and contributors are required to give consent for the FAFSA to pull tax information from the IRS.
In cases of divorced or separated parents, the custodial parent is determined by whichever parent contributes more financial support to the student. If the amount contributed is the same then the parent with the higher income is used. This tool can be used to help you determine who should be included on your FAFSA.
The number of students in college no longer impacts the SAI.
All students and contributors are required to have their own FSA ID to complete their portion of the FAFSA.
Parents without an SSN can create a StudentAid.gov account.
Students can now list up to 20 schools on their FAFSA rather than the previous 10.

FAQs

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I am having trouble with the FAFSA website. What do I do?

If your issue relates to your or your parent(s)’ FSA ID or password, please visit this site for assistance. If you need to recover an already-created FSA User ID, you can use this process.
Clear your web browser’s cache, as this can assist in fixing certain problems with loading or formatting issues on the site.
Try a different web browser.
Try a different device. A desktop computer may work better than your cell phone.
Chat, email or call the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC).

How do I check the status of my FAFSA?

To check the status of your FAFSA, log in to your StudentAid.gov account and
navigate to the "My Activity" page to view your application status.

To see if Brandeis has received your FAFSA , you may check your financial aid document portal (current students should use the Financial Aid Portal link in Workday; incoming first-year students should check their financial aid checklists in DEISConnect).

What if I make a mistake on my FAFSA

Corrections: If You Made a Mistake

If you made a mistake in what you reported on the FAFSA form, you may need to make a correction. Find out how to make changes to your FAFSA information.

If you file a FAFSA with the wrong Social Security number (SSN), you must log into StudentAid.gov and correct the information in your "Account Settings" or select
"Make a Correction" on your FAFSA form.

Updates: If Your Situation Has Changed

Most information cannot be updated because it must be accurate as of the day you originally signed your FAFSA form. For example, if you spent some of your savings after filing the FAFSA form, you may not update your information to show a change in that amount. You should speak to the financial aid office at the college or career/trade school you plan to attend if there will be a significant change in your or your parent’s income for the present year or if your family has other circumstances that cannot be reported on the FAFSA form.

You may update your mailing address, email address, and other contact information if it has changed.

Tax return information transferred via DDX cannot be changed on your online FAFSA
form. If you filed an IRS Form 1040-X amended return, contact your college’s or career
school’s financial aid office to discuss next steps.

If your personal circumstances change and impact your dependency status after you submit your FAFSA form, contact your school’s financial aid office to ask if they have a policy that allows you to update your answers to the dependency status questions. The financial aid staff will tell you what to do.

Changes to Federal School Codes: If You Want to Add or Delete a School

If you want to make your FAFSA information available to an additional school after filing the FAFSA form, you may add that school’s Federal School Code.

To add or delete a school from your FAFSA, log in to your account on StudentAid.gov ,
go to the "My Activity" section, and select the "Add or Remove Schools" button from
your processed FAFSA submission. From there, you can search for and add schools, or
select schools to remove. Remember that you can list up to 20 schools at a time. After
making your changes, review and submit them to complete the correction.

How do I correct my FAFSA if it's missing a Contributor's Consent and Approval?

A FAFSA form missing a contributor's consent and approval needs that contributor to
log in to their StudentAid.gov account , find the form in the "My Activity" section, and
select "Provide Signatures" or "Approve" to give their consent. Once they have
completed their section, they must electronically sign and submit it for the student to be
eligible for federal student aid.

How do I change the answer to the "Direct Unsubsidized Loan Only" question?

On the FAFSA form, dependent students have the option to indicate that their parents are unwilling to provide their information and therefore want to apply for only a Direct Unsubsidized Loan. However, if a dependent student does not provide parent information, their eligibility for other types of federal student aid can not be calculated. This means they will not be eligible for a Federal Pell Grant, Federal Work-Study, or a Direct Subsidized Loan.

To change your answer to the "Direct Unsubsidized Loan Only" question on the FAFSA, log into StudentAid.gov, select your FAFSA submission from the "My Activity" section, and start a correction. You will need to navigate to the relevant page, change your answer to "No", and then complete the rest of the form, including inviting your parent(s) to provide their information, signature, and consent.

How do I add a missing signature to my FAFSA?

Will FAFSA Simplification impact the amount of financial aid I am eligible to receive at Brandeis?

I heard the FAFSA no longer counts my sibling(s) in college. Will this reduce the amount of aid I am eligible to receive?

While the FAFSA will ask about siblings enrolled in college, the analysis will not adjust for this. As such, this could impact the amount of federal aid you are eligible to receive. However, at this time, Brandeis has no plans to change how we determine eligibility for need-based institutional scholarship for undergraduate students. Thus, when families have more than one child in undergraduate college at the same time we will consider the the cost of the other sibling(s) enrolled in undergraduate college when determining eligibility for and the amount of need-based Brandeis scholarship.

I am separated or divorced. Which parent must complete the FAFSA?

Who needs an FSA ID?

Who needs an FSA ID

The student: Every student applying for federal aid needs their own unique FSA
ID.
Parent(s) of a dependent student: At least one parent is required to have an
FSA ID to provide information and sign the FAFSA.
- If the student's parents are divorced or separated, only the parent who provides
  more than half of the student's financial support needs an FSA ID.
- If that parent is remarried, the stepparent may also need an FSA ID if they file
  taxes separately from the parent.
- If the parents file a joint tax return, only one parent needs an FSA ID.
Student's spouse: If the student is married and files taxes separately from their
spouse, the spouse will also need an FSA ID.

How long does it take for the FSA ID to process?

It takes 1 to 3 days for an FSA ID to be processed and verified, though you can use it
immediately to sign a first-time FAFSA form. The verification process with the Social
Security Administration (SSA) occurs after you create the account. If the system can't
match your information automatically, the status might be pending for up to 1-3 days
until it can be resolved.

What if I do not have an SSN?

If you have a Social Security number (SSN), you must provide it when creating your account.

If you don’t have an SSN, you can create an account if one of the following statements is true for you:

I’m a parent or spouse of a student who is completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA^®) form, and I don’t have an SSN.
I’m a citizen of the Freely Associated States and need to complete the FAFSA form online.

While creating your account, you’ll need to answer a few knowledge-based questions to verify your identity.

If you answer these questions correctly, you’ll be able to use your account immediately.
If you can’t answer the questions correctly, you’ll need to complete a manual verification process to verify your identity. Check your inbox for an email with steps you can follow to verify your identity.

Note that accounts created without SSNs have limited functionality but can immediately access the FAFSA form.

To apply for an SSN or to get a replacement Social Security card, contact your local Social Security office. For more information, you can visit the Social Security Administration or call at 1-800-722-1213.

Why is the FAFSA asking me to list all contributors?

The FAFSA is now a roles-based form. Each individual (student/parent) providing information on the FAFSA will see only questions related to their role. Whomever starts the FAFSA will be asked to provide information for all contributors, including SSNs. Please keep in mind the term "contributor" in this context does NOT legally bind any parent to contribute to educational costs. It is simply referring to the information being contributed to the FAFSA application.

I am the student, but I can't access the parent portion of the FAFSA, or, I am the parent, but I can't access the student portion of the FAFSA.

The FAFSA is asking me to consent to use DDX (Direct Data Exchange).

Everyone (students and parents) will need to consent (check box) to have their Federal Tax Information (FTI) imported into the FTI module. No tax information will transfer into the FAFSA but tax data will be sent to the colleges listed on the FAFSA. To provide consent, the individual will need to access the FAFSA with an FSA ID that has been matched with the SSA. If anyone (parent or student) does not consent, you are considered ineligible for federal financial aid.

What if I do not want to authorize the FAFSA to import my tax information from the IRS?

Providing consent allows the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to obtain your federal tax information automatically and apply it to your section of the student's FAFSA form. If you do not provide this consent, the student will not be able to receive federal student aid. Brandeis will not increase institutional need-based aid to cover any federal aid for which the student may have qualified, and consideration for additional funds upon appeal may be limited.