2024-25 FAFSA changes: What it means for you

The U.S. Department of Education has made changes to the FAFSA process for 2024-25 to simplify and streamline the process for students. However, these changes have caused a delay in processing impacting colleges and universities across the country. Whether or not you think you will qualify for aid, it is important for all students to submit the FAFSA as this is also used for institutional and state aid.

FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and it is how students apply for federal aid such as federal grants, work-study funds and student loans. Completing the FAFSA is free and encouraged for all students and families, whether or not you feel you need financial aid.

All first-year students who have been admitted to UC's Uptown campus for the Fall 2024 term will now be able to confirm their admission to University of Cincinnati until June 1, 2024 at 5 p.m. EST.

This extension is being provided so that students relying on financial aid awards can be certain they have this information prior to making a final college selection.

 To accommodate a confirmation deadline extension, University of Cincinnati Housing will now accept housing applications until June 4, 2024 at 5 p.m. EST. 

Students must be confirmed in order to apply for housing. 

Due to FAFSA processing delays, students will likely not receive their full financial aid offer from University of Cincinnati until after April 1, 2024. Please be assured that University of Cincinnati will start issuing full financial aid offers as soon as we are able.  

The biggest change that impacts the FAFSA process is that the form now only has 46 questions. Previously, there were over 100 questions. This means the form should take significantly less time for students and families to fill out.

The FAFSA changes also include a direct data exchange with the IRS, so you will no longer need to manually input your financial information.

To determine the amount of aid a student will receive, the FAFSA will now be using a new formula called the Student Aid Index (SAI).

The information included on your FAFSA application determines your SAI, which calculates need-based financial aid. This replaces the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) formula.

A Pell Grant is a program from the federal government that aims to help low-income families afford to send their student to college. Unlike loans, grants are not paid back.

With the changes to the new FAFSA formula, the U.S. Department of Education estimates more than 600,000 new students will now be eligible to receive Federal Pell Grants.

In previous years, households with multiple people attending college was a factor in calculating the amount of financial aid a student would receive. That is no longer the case in the new FAFSA process.