2024-25 FAFSA

How federal aid eligibility is determined and, by default, what is asked on the FAFSA are set by Congress. Legislation passed in 2020 was aimed at simplifying the application process and brings about a number of changes in calculating aid eligibility beginning with the 2024-25 academic year.

It is important for families to complete the 2024-25 FAFSA for aid consideration.  Prepare by having the student, spouse, and parent(s) create a FSA ID if they do not have one. A personal FSA ID will be required of each person who is required to supply tax information on the FAFSA.

New undergraduate students for 2024-25 should continue to prioritize their UC admission application completion by December 1 for scholarship consideration.

The FAFSA remains key for new undergraduate and graduate students to get a financial aid award offer from UC (and any other school you are considering). We want you to have a complete financial award as you make your college selection. The delay of the FAFSA availability has shortened the window for applying for aid and receiving an award offer, and UC will work to begin student awarding for new students with FAFSAs on file as soon as systems are ready. Anticipated timelines in awarding will be detailed on our 2024-25 Aid Awarding page.

NOTE: The University of Cincinnati has extended the fall 2024 confirmation deadline for Uptown first-year students from May 1, 2024, to June 1, 2024, at 5:00 pm EST to accommodate U.S. Department of Education processing delays impacting FAFSA information being provided to colleges and universities across the country. 

Returning college students also want to complete the FAFSA as soon as possible. You will see some changes in the online FAFSA experience.

While some students will receive more aid through the new SAI calculations, others may receive less. You want to know your aid eligibility sooner than later to make financial plans for continuing your education. Awards for returning students with FAFSAs are anticipated to occur before the end of spring term to assist in your financial planning.

Graduate students, because they are primarily eligible for non-need-based loans and university scholarships, will experience a simplified FAFSA but are unlikely to see changes in aid eligibility.

A contributor to the new FAFSA is a person whose tax information is required on the FAFSA.

• The student is an obvious contributor.
• Next, the parent(s) will be contributors if the student is considered dependent for financial aid purposes.
  • When biological or adoptive parents are not married and not living together, the FAFSA uses the parent who provided most financial support to the student in the past 12 months.
  • The spouse (if any) of that parent is also a contributor.
• A married student's spouse is a contributor.

Each FAFSA contributor will need to get an FSA ID if they don't already have one. FSA IDs can take 3-5 days for setup.

The FSA ID is needed to consent and agree to release IRS tax information for the FAFSA. All contributors who filed 2022 taxes separately or who did not file 2022 taxes will need their own FSA ID. Your FSA ID can be used on multiple FAFSAs if you are a contributor on more than one FAFSA and will be used annually when completing a FAFSA as well as working as an electronic signature on federal loan processes.

There will be three more obvious changes that all families will experience when completing the new FAFSA.

• Simplification: The FAFSA will reduce in maximum questions from 108 questions to 46. And because the FAFSA on the Web is dynamic, some students won't even be presented with all 46 questions. Recent FAFSAs saw some questions dropped, and others will no longer be asked due to the way that tax and income information will be shared. 
• Tax/Income Data: Previously, students, a student's spouse (when married), and parent(s) (when students are dependent) entered their tax information or used the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) to transfer tax data from the IRS to the FAFSA. Beginning with 2024-25, all persons listing tax information on the FAFSA will be required to use the IRS Direct Data Exchange (DDX) to share tax information or confirm non-filing status. DDX gives ease to the process and reduces questions to be answered. This change also requires the student, spouse, and all parents with tax data reported to get a personal FSA ID (if you don't each have one already).
• Student Aid Index (SAI): The FAFSA previously calculated an Estimated Family Contribution (EFC). Now the FAFSA will produce the Student Aid Index (SAI). This name more accurately describes a number used to determine aid eligibility within programs and compared to other students. Also, this number, unlike the EFC, can be negative with the minimum SAI being -1500.

EFC becoming SAI is more than a name update. The calculation of the SAI differs from the EFC calculation of the past and makes the following changes that may change your aid eligibility:

• No benefit for having siblings in college: The FAFSA previously divided the EFC proportionally based on the number of the household in college. The elimination of this "sibling discount" will be the biggest change in aid eligibility for some students. The SAI will not use the number in college as a factor in calculation of eligibility. As such, UC students with siblings in college may see a change in their aid eligibility at UC as well as with the aid received by their sibling(s) at UC or elsewhere. The determination to no longer consider number in college was made by Congress and can only be changed by Congress.
• Automatic Pell Grants based on income and household size: Families making less than 175% and single parents making less than 225% of the federal poverty level will see their students receive a maximum Federal Pell Grant award. Minimum Pell Grants will be guaranteed to students from households below 275%, 325%, 350%, or 400% of the poverty level, depending on household structure. Pell awards between the maximum and minimum amounts will be determined by SAI.
• Larger Income Protection Allowances: The Income Protection Allowance (IPA) covers a family's basic living expenses and is excluded from SAI formulas. New, larger IPAs lower the amount of student or parent income considered to be available to pay for college. IPAs will increase by 20% for parents, up to about $2400 (35%) for most students, and up to about $6500 (60%) for students who are single parents.
• Inclusion of family farms or small businesses: When required, families will now report the value of their farms or businesses. While this inclusion continues to be debated in Congress, it will be required reporting for appropriate familes on the 2024-25 FAFSA and can influence the SAI.

While the FAFSA is receiving an update and the aid eligibility calculation has been revised, there are a number of aid-related matters that will not change.

• The FAFSA will remain required for federal aid consideration and will be used as well for institutional and state aid determination.
• Questions introduced in 2023-24 about the applicant's sex, race, and ethnicity have no effect on federal student aid eligibility, are not shared with schools, and remain only for Department of Education statistical purposes.
• Dependency status questions that determine if your parents complete the FAFSA with you remain the same.
• The FAFSA will request tax information from the prior-prior year. Families with significant reductions in income levels can review the special circumstance process.
• Degree-seeking students will be eligible for student loan amounts assuming they complete the FAFSA and are not default on their previous student loans.
• Undergraduate admission applications at UC should be completed by December 1 for scholarship consideration for incoming students.
• Because some aid programs are awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis, an early FAFSA application receives priority consideration for limited funding sources.
• With the 2025-26 FAFSA, the FAFSA is again expected to be available beginning October 1 of each year.
• The FAFSA remains an annual application that continuing students will need to complete each year.