Upcoming Changes to the FAFSA
Federal Student Aid (FSA) is making changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that could significantly affect students who complete the FAFSA for the 2025-2026 academic year. The changes will impact current and future college students.
Five Important Things to Know
- The FAFSA for the next Academic School year will not be available until October, at the earliest. Please see StudentAid.gov for more information.
- Both students and contributors (parents/legal guardian/spouse) must have an FSA ID before completing the form on studentaid.gov. If you do not have a login, please create one now, as it could take 3 to 5 days to process. It is important to use personal emails for each account and not work or school emails.
- If parents are divorced or separated, the parent who provided the most financial support in the last calendar year will now complete the parent section of the FAFSA. If the parent who has provided the most financial support is remarried, their current spouse may be asked to contribute their information as well.
- The number of students a family has enrolled in college will no longer be a factor in the FAFSA calculation.
- The net worth of family farms and small businesses will now be required as part of the application.
Who Needs a FAFSA ID?
Both the student and contributors (parent/s, legal guardian, spouse, etc) must create a studentaid.gov account or FSA ID using a personal email.
If parents file as married filing jointly, only one parent FSA ID is required.
If parents are unmarried but live together or are married but file taxes separately, both parents must have an FSA ID.
If a student is married, their spouse must also have an FSA ID and will use it to link their taxes the the student's FAFSA if the student and spouse filed separately during the corresponding tax filing year.
The Social Security Administration must verify the FSA IDs before a FAFSA can be started. Allow 3 to 5 days for processing.
FSA IDs will use two-factor authentication.
Login & Demographic Information
The student must provide the legal name, Social Security number (SSN), birthdate and email of the parent/parents or spouse (if married) who will contribute to the FAFSA (if no SSN, a mailing address will be required). This information must match the contributor's FSA ID information. The parents or spouse will then receive an email to add their information to the existing form. Login Issues or Technical Difficulties with StudentAid.gov? Please call 1-800-433-3243 for assistance.
Parents or spouse and students must log in separately to complete their respective sections.
Students and parents/spouse must give consent to retrieve and disclose federal tax information. This includes non-tax filers, those without Social Security numbers, and foreign tax filers. Without consent from ALL contributors, federal aid may not be available to the student.
Demographic survey questions will include expanded ethnicity and race options.
Which Parent Completes the FAFSA?
The parent who completes the FAFSA is changing for divorced or separated parents: Previously, the parent a student lived with the most in the last calendar year was included in the FAFSA. Starting with the 2024-2025 FAFSA, the parent who provided the most financial support must complete the application.