2025-26 FAFSA

It is important for families to complete the 2025-26 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 2025-26 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. 

Returning college students also want to complete the FAFSA as soon as possible. 

While some students will receive more aid through the new SAI calculations introduced in 2024-25, others may receive less. You want to know your aid eligibility sooner than later to make financial plans for continuing your education. 

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 2023 taxes separately or who did not file 2023 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.

The 2024-25 FAFSA brought on three more obvious changes.

• 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 received an update in 2024-25 and the aid eligibility calculation was revised, there were a number of aid-related matters that did 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.