In summary, they are:
(1) The FAFSA will be shorter...MUCH shorter!
- It will now be 36 questions (instead of 108)
- 2 pages only (instead of 6)
- It will now better align with Federal Income Tax
- There will be less opportunity for error or fraud
- The simplicity of it should benefit low income families
(2) The Expected Family Contribution - or EFC - is being renamed.
- The EFC was what a family should expect to pay (at minimum)
- This will now be the SAI, or Student Aid Index
- Note that this will not make the overall task easier to complete or make college more affordable, but it does help to make the terminology less confusing and misleading
(3) Changes for if parent are divorced or separated.
- The FAFSA used to be completed by the parent household where the student spent most of his/her time
- Now it will be completed by the parent who provides greater financial support for the student.
(4) Changes for families with multiple students enrolled at the same time.
- FAFSA used to divide the parent assessment by the number of family members attending college
- Two in college, a 50% reduction. Three, a 66% reduction.
- The old way of FAFSA had focused on cash flow, not wealth and income protection allowance based on the size of the family.
- The new FAFSA removes both -- the FAFSA will NOT divide the parent assessment by the number of family in college. In turn, there will be less aid for multi-student families.
(5) The income protection levels will increase.
- PIPA (Parental Income Protection Allowance) increases by 20%
- SIPA (Student Income Protection Allowance) increases by 35%
- This increase could very well end up as thousands more in aid!
- The asset protection will remain unchanged
Any questions? Be sure to contact us today and we'll set you up with our financial aid experts!