FAFSA Changes

Students can now invite required contributors, such as parents or spouses, using only an email address. The contributor receives a link and code to access the FAFSA and complete their section. 

Some users creating a StudentAid.gov account may now have their identity verified immediately if their information matches Social Security Administration records. This allows students and contributors to access and complete the FAFSA more quickly. 

Beginning with the 2026–27 FAFSA, certain assets are excluded when calculating financial aid eligibility. Families may no longer need to report the value of:

• Small family-owned businesses with 100 or fewer employees
• Family farms where the family lives
• Family-owned commercial fishing operations 

Some updates affect how Pell Grant eligibility is calculated:

• Students with a Student Aid Index (SAI) significantly higher than the maximum Pell Grant amount may not qualify for a Pell Grant.
• Foreign income must now be reported when determining eligibility for certain federal grants. 

Beginning with the 2026–27 FAFSA, some questions on the application have been updated.

• These changes include updated race and ethnicity questions that allow students to select more detailed categories when reporting their identity. The updates are intended to align FAFSA demographic questions with federal data reporting standards.
• Answering these questions is optional and does not affect financial aid eligibility. The information is collected only for federal reporting and research purposes.

These federal aid requirements, rights, and responsibilities have not changed or have had only minor updates:

• The FAFSA remains required annually for federal aid consideration and is available to U.S. Citizens or Eligible Non-Citizens.
• Questions about the applicant's gender, race, and ethnicity have no effect on federal student aid eligibility and remain only for statistical purposes.
• Dependency status questions to determine if your parents must provide their information remain the same.
• FAFSA will still request tax information from two years ago. Families that had significant reduction in income due to extenuating circumstances can still request special circumstances review.
• Federal Aid Rights & Responsibilities also didn't change.
• Satisfactory Academic Progress Requirements for Federal Aid are still required to maintain eligibility. 

“Below are the changes effective the 2024 - 2025 aid year. The 2025-2026 FAFSA was opened to all students on November 21, 2024. The 2026 - 2027 FAFSA was opened October 1, 2025.”

• The FAFSA requires consent to access IRS information
• Consent is given by each contributor before signing the FAFSA
• Contributors include the student, student's spouse, and may include a parent and/or parent's spouse
• The FAFSA now uses the Federal Tax Information (FTI) to import IRS data
• This replaces the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) used in the past

• The Student Aid Index (SAI) is the measure of your financial need
• SAI replaces the Estimated Family Contribution
• Assets, untaxed income and other factors affect the SAI differently than years prior