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There are new and exciting updates coming to the federal financial aid process this year. These new changes make completing a FAFSA faster and easier!

What are the new changes and how will they help? Here are 7 of the most impactful:

1. The FAFSA Will Be Delayed This Year

For the 2024-2025 year only, the FAFSA won’t be available until December 2023. (It’s usually available in October.) The specific release date will be announced by the Department of Education soon.

2. You Can Get Your FSA ID Now

In order to complete the FAFSA, you and at least one of your parents will need to create an account on the studentaid.gov website. If your parent(s) already has an account, they can check to make sure their log-in is working.

3. The FAFSA Will Be Much Shorter

The simplified form is only about 30 questions – down from about 100! The answers to several questions will be populated automatically using your and your parents’ federal tax data.

4. More Students Will be Eligible for Pell Grants

Eligibility will mostly be based on family income and household size and it will be easier to know if you qualify (and in some cases for how much) up front.

5. The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is Now the Student Aid Index (SAI)

The SAI will be calculated differently than the EFC was, but it serves the same purpose: determining your financial need by subtracting it from the college’s Cost of Attendance.

6. You Very Likely Don’t Need Your Tax Forms to File the FAFSA

For most students, a new streamlined process will import your federal tax info directly from the IRS.

7. You’ll Be Able to Estimate Your Federal Financial Aid Award and Your SAI

The English and Spanish versions of the new FAFSA have a tool that gives you an early estimate of your SAI and federal financial aid.

More information is becoming available week by week! Check out the for the latest.