2024-25 FAFSA Updates

We know students and families are anxious to learn about the costs and aid available to attend a college of their choice next year. We are here to help digest the latest information and offer helpful hints as we navigate the delay together.

FAFSA Delay 

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which has previously opened annually on October 1 ^st , is delayed this year for all U.S. students. 

The Department of Education is estimating the FAFSA used for the 2024-2025 academic year, will be released sometime in mid-to-late December. After which, colleges and universities across the country will be hurrying to update their own systems to adequately handle the redesigned FAFSA to process aid for individual students.

U.S. Department of Education is referring to FAFSA Simplification as a redesigned, and reprogrammed application for aid, that will be calculated differently than it has in the past several years.

What this means for prospective students hoping to attend Monmouth (or any college) in the fall of 2024: financial aid offers are expected to be available by early February 2024, instead of mid-November as they have been in the past several years. This is expected to be a one-year obstacle, and FAFSA’s for future years (fall 2025 and beyond) should return to the October 1 timeline.

What we know:

• The 2024-25 FAFSA should be available in mid-to-late December 2023.
• The FAFSA will remain the universal application used for both federal and state funding and you will access it at: www.studentaid.gov
• The FAFSA will remain the only application Monmouth College will request from a student.
• The FAFSA, when processed, will produce a Student Aid Index (SAI), rather than an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) as it has in the past. The new SAI will be used to determine aid eligibility moving forward.
• The formula used to calculate the SAI will be different from the formula used to calculate the EFC of the past.
• The new FAFSA will ask far fewer questions of students and families making it much more “simplified”.
• The optional Data Retrieval Tool used by families in the past to automatically pull their IRS tax return information into the FAFSA, will now be required for everyone.
• Students who file the FAFSA, will still need to obtain/create an FSA ID and Password which will service as their electronic signature with the U. S. Department of Education. Students may obtain the FSA ID at: https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch
• Parents of dependent students or spouses of independent students will also be required to obtain/create an FSA ID at: https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch
• There will be a bit of a delay between the time you create your FSA ID, and when you can use it to sign and submit the FAFSA application. We encourage you to create your FSA ID’s at least 48 hours before you intend to use them to sign the FAFSA.
• Students with divorced parents who do not reside together, will be instructed to file the FAFSA with the parent who provided the most financial support. This is a change from past years when students were directed to file the FAFSA with the parent they lived with most.
• The number of people in the household will be determined based upon the number of exemptions claimed on the federal tax returns of the persons completing the FAFSA.
• The number of people in the household who will be enrolled in college the following year is expected to be asked on the FAFSA, but will not impact the formula in the same way it has in past years.
• The Department of Education is returning to a formula that includes the equity in small businesses and family farms; these have been omitted in the past several years.
• Child support received into your home will not be counted as Untaxed Income and instead will be counted as an Asset.
• Child support paid out of your home will no longer be reported.

Of course, this does not represent a complete list of all changes expected, but it does highlight the largest changes anticipated. We will continue to update the list as we learn more. 

If you have specific questions or concerns about the FAFSA or the process of applying for financial aid, please contact our Student Financial Planning Office at 309-457-2129 or email the team at: finaid@monmouthcollege.edu

Updated 11/28/2023