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Changes to FAFSA

The 2024-25 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 took affect starting with the 24-25 FAFSA. The changes made will be listed below.

Changes in Terminology

The EFC (Estimated Family Contribution) will now be the SAI (Student Aid Index).
Room and Board will now be referred to as Food and Housing.
Parents and/or a student's spouse will now be referred to as Contributors.
The Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) has been renamed 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 will be required to give consent for the FAFSA to pull your tax information from the IRS.
In cases of divorced or separated parents, the custodial parent is determined by whichever parent contributes more to the student. If the amount contributed is the same then the parent with the higher income will be used.
The number of students in college will no longer impact the SAI.
All students and contributors will be required to have their own FSA ID to complete their portion of the FAFSA.
Parents without an SSN can now create and FSA ID and no longer need to sign a paper copy. Follow this link for more information on getting an FSA ID without an SSN
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.
Try to submit the FAFSA during off-hours, when volume at the site may not be as high.
Chat, email or call the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC).

How do I check the status of my FAFSA?

Our office has received the majority of FAFSAs filed with the Brandeis school code. 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) to see if your FAFSA has been received.

Some of the FAFSA applications we have received have issues thar require student action. You can check the status of FAFSA through the FSA website. If your FAFSA is “In Review” or “Processed,” your FAFSA form has been successfully completed. If your FAFSA is not in one of these statuses, you will need to correct the issues before submitting. Your FAFSA will be one of the following statuses.

Draft: Your section of the FAFSA form is incomplete.
In Progress: You provided your consent, approval, and signature to your section of the FAFSA form, but it has not been submitted yet.
In Review: Your FAFSA form was submitted but hasn't been processed yet.
Action Required: You are missing your consent and approval or signature, or the FAFSA form was processed, but a correction is required.
Processed: Your application was processed successfully. No further action is needed.
Closed: Your FAFSA form was never submitted and can no longer be submitted because the federal FAFSA deadline passed.

FSA has started to send FAFSA data to colleges at a slow pace. Please know that we are monitoring our FAFSA data

What kinds of changes can I make to my FAFSA once it has been processed?

Corrections: If You Made a Mistake

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

If you filed FAFSA form using an incorrect SSN, you can correct your SSN by doing one of the following:

Recommended method: You can submit a new online FAFSA form. In many cases, this is the easiest and fastest option. Note: Submitting a new FAFSA form will change the date your FAFSA form was submitted and processed. Be sure to check your state or school deadlines, because your FAFSA submission date must meet those deadlines in order for you to qualify for state or school aid.
You can ask the financial aid office at one of the schools listed on your Student Aid Report (SAR) to change your SSN for you.
Contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center and request your paper SAR. Once you receive your SAR in the mail, make your changes, sign it, and then send it to the address listed on your SAR.

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.

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.

Once your FAFSA form is processed, you can add or delete a school on your FAFSA form by doing the following steps:

Go to fafsa.gov.
Select “Start or Edit a FAFSA Form.”
Select your role, and then select the “Log In to Continue” button.
Enter your account username and password.
On the “My FAFSA^®” page, select “Add/Change Schools” and then select “Continue.”
Create a save key.
Change your information.
Submit your information.

Note: No more than 10 schools may be listed on your FAFSA form at one time. (The FAFSA PDF has space for only four schools, while the online FAFSA form allows 10 to be listed.) If you add an eleventh school, you’ll need to remove one of the ten schools already listed on your FAFSA form. You may choose which school to replace with the new school. The school removed from the list will not have automatic access to any new information you provide after you’ve removed that school.

How do I make changes to my FAFSA^® form?

You can make changes in one of the following ways:

Make changes at fafsa.gov:

- Select “Start or Edit a FAFSA Form
- Select your role, and then select the “Log In to Continue” button.
- Enter your account username and password.
- On the “My FAFSA” page, select “Make Corrections.”
- Create a save key.
- Change your information.
- Submit your new information.

Contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center and request your paper SAR. Once you receive your SAR in the mail, make your changes, sign it, and then send it to the address listed on your SAR.
Check with the financial aid office at the college you plan to attend; the school might be able to make changes for you electronically.

Note: Tax return information you transfer via the IRS Data Retrieval Tool 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 whether it would be appropriate for the school to adjust the information on your FAFSA form.

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

If your FAFSA form is missing a contributor’s consent and approval, your contributor must do the following:

Log in and go to their account Dashboard.
Select the FAFSA form that indicates “Action Required” under the “My Activity” section.
Select “Approve.”
Provide their consent and approval.
Navigate through the form.
Sign and submit their section of the form.

How do I correct my FAFSA if I filed it using the wrong SSN?

If you filed a 2024–25 FAFSA form using an incorrect SSN, do the following:

Log in and update your information in your Account Settings.
Once the Social Security Administration (SSA) verifies your account status, update the information on your FAFSA form by selecting “Make a Correction.”
Once the information on your FAFSA form has been updated, navigate through the rest of the form.
Sign and submit the form.

If you believe that the SSN you reported is correct, then follow the instructions for updating the SSA and the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC):

Contact the SSA by calling 1-800-772-1213 or by visiting ssa.gov to either confirm your SSN or request that they update their records.
Once SSA resolves the issue, contact the FSAIC at 1-800-433-3243.
Ask the FSAIC to manually sync their data with the SSA. You’ll be notified by email once a match is confirmed.
Reach out to your college’s or career school’s financial aid office to inform them of the update.

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 doesn’t provide parent information, their eligibility for other types of federal student aid can’t be calculated. This means they won’t be eligible for a Federal Pell Grant, Federal Work-Study, or a Direct Subsidized Loan.

If you selected to apply for only a Direct Unsubsidized Loan by mistake, follow the steps below to change your answer to this question and invite your parent(s) to your form.

Step One

Log in to StudentAid.gov and select your FAFSA submission from the “My Activity” section of your account Dashboard. You’ll then see your submission details, including your form’s status. Select “Start Your Correction” from under the “Student Actions Needed” section.

Step Two

Select “Continue” on the “Correct Your FAFSA^® Form” page.

Step Three

Select “Start Student Section” on the “Error Summary” page.

Step Four

Navigate through the Personal Circumstances section until you reach the “Your Dependency Status” page. You’ll see that “Yes” is selected as the answer to the “Direct Unsubsidized Loan Only” question.

Step Five

Change your answer to the “Direct Unsubsidized Loan Only” question to “No.” Then, select “Continue” to navigate through the rest of the form and invite your parent(s).

Step Six

When you reach the “Review Changes” page, confirm that your answer to the “Direct Unsubsidized Loan Only” question has been changed to “No.” Then, select “Continue” to sign and submit your section of the correction.

Step Seven

Review the next steps included on the “Section Complete” page. To complete your form, your parent(s) must log in, complete their section, provide their consent and approval and signature, and submit the correction.

How do I add a missing signature to my FAFSA?

All required contributors (you, your parent[s], your spouse) must provide a signature on your FAFSA form. If your form is missing one or more required signatures, it isn’t complete, and you won’t be eligible for federal student aid.

Once your form is processed, you and your contributor(s) can follow the steps below to add a missing signature.

Note: The images included in these instructions show a parent’s view of the form. However, the steps for adding a signature to the form are the same for students and parents.

Step One

Log in to StudentAid.gov and select the FAFSA submission from the “My Activity” section of your account Dashboard. You’ll then see a submission details page. Under “FAFSA^® Form Processed,” select “Provide Signature.”

Step Two

On the “Correct Your FAFSA^® Form” page, select “Provide Signature.”

Step Three

On the “Review Changes” page, select “Continue.”

Note: If a missing signature is your only error, you’ll be taken directly to this page. If your section of the form has other errors, you’ll be taken to the first page that needs additional information and will reach the “Review Changes” page once you’ve fixed all issues.

Step Four

On the “Signature” page, select “Sign and Submit.”

Step Five

After selecting “Sign and Submit,” you’ll be taken to a page that confirms the FAFSA form is complete.

What are the changes to the FAFSA?

Changes include, but are not limited to:

The number of questions on the FAFSA has decreased from over 100 to less than 50.
The EFC (Estimated Family Contribution) is now the Student Aid Index (SAI).
Students can list up to 20 schools on their FAFSA via the online application.
The Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) has been renamed the Direct Data Exchange (DDX)
All students and contributors will be required to have their own FSA ID to complete their portion of the FAFSA.
The students, spouse, and parent(s) will now need to provide their consent 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 Tax Information (FTI)
- 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.

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

I heard the FAFSA will no longer count by 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?

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

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 for us to verify your identity. Check your inbox for an email from us 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.