2024-25 FAFSA Updates

Watch the “Preparing for the FAFSA Form” playlist from Federal Student Aid to understand what information and documents you’ll need to fill out the FAFSA form.

Ready to File the 2024-25 FAFSA? Here's What You'll Need

Listo Para Llenar la 2024-25 FAFSA? Estos Son Los Documentos Que Necesitas (En Espanol)

Students completing the FAFSA for the first time and all those contributing to a student's FAFSFA can create their FSA ID before the application becomes available in late December. 

A contributor (a new term being introduced on the 2024-25 FAFSA) refers to anyone who is required to provide information on a student's form (such as a parent/stepparent or spouse). A student's or parent's answers on the FAFSA will determine which contributors (if any) will be required to provide information.

Contributors will receive an email informing them that they've been identified as such by the student, and will need to log in using their own FSA ID to provide the required information on the student's FAFSA.

Being a contributor does not mean they are financially responsible for the student's education costs, but it does mean the contributor must provide information on the FAFSA or the application will be incomplete and the student will not be eligible for federal student aid.

If you are a dependent student for FAFSA purposes, you'll need to provide information about your parents. Refer to Federal Student Aid to help determine which parent's information you will need to report on the FAFSA.

For dependent students, financial information was previously needed from the parent(s) the student had lived with the most in the last 12 months. With the new FAFSA, financial information will be required from the parent(s) who provided the most financial support to the student.

What is considered a business or investment farm?

They are businesses the family owns (including a small or family-run business) or income-producing farms the family owns, including the fair market value of land, buildings, livestock, unharvested crops, and machinery actively used in investment farms, agricultural, or commercial activities.

How should applicants and their families report the net value of a farm on which their principal place of residence also sits?

Applicants should determine the total net value of all farm assets and subtract the net value of their principal residence to determine the final value of their farm assets. The principal residence may include the family’s home, as well as structures and land adjacent to the home that are not being used, stored, or sold for farming or other commercial activities. Property values are generally assessed at a rate that considers the use of the property and the value of the land. Applicants and their families may refer to their property tax assessments from municipal, county, or state governments to help determine and separate the value of their principal residence from other property. Debts owed against the principal residence—such as a mortgage—should also be subtracted from the assessed value of the residence to determine the net value.

The 2024-25 FAFSA has a lot of changes to help make it a better FAFSA experience. Things to note:

Incomplete FAFSA expires after 45 days

Any FAFSA that is left incomplete will expire after 45 days, which means the form will have to be restarted and all contributors must redo their sections. Reminder emails will be sent to contributors every seven days.

FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS)

The FSS details the information that a student and their contributors have entered on the form. This summary is not expected to be available to students, and any colleges that a student identifies on the FAFSA, until late January 2023. Students should still submit the FAFSA early in January to keep the process moving forward and wait for more details to come from Federal Student Aid and NICC on next steps.

"Expected Family Contribution” (EFC) is changing to "Student Aid Index" (SAI)

The SAI is a number that determines each student’s eligibility for certain types of federal student aid and will be used for awarding need-based grants, loans, and other aid types. The SAI will also determine eligibility for state of Iowa grants like Iowa Last-Dollar Scholarship, Kibbie Grant and Vocational-Technical Grant.

• Watch the “2024–25 FAFSA FAQs” playlist to better understand what’s changed on the new form.

The FAFSA Submission Summary for the 2024–25 award year (July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025) is a summary of the FAFSA data you submitted. You (the student) will get your FAFSA Submission Summary after your FAFSA form is processed. Look over your FAFSA Submission Summary carefully, make sure you didn't make a mistake on your FAFSA form, and make corrections to your FAFSA data if necessary.

Check the status of your FAFSA form by logging in to your StudentAid.gov account and selecting your FAFSA submission from the "My Activity" section of your account Dashboard.