Beginning with the 2024-25 FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), a variety of changes have been implemented to the FAFSA filing process and the determination of federal aid eligibility. These changes are collectively known as “FAFSA Simplification”.
2025-26 FAFSA FAQ Videos
Complete the 2025-26 FAFSA here
2025-26 FAFSA will not be available until December 2024.
Our Eastman FAFSA Code is 008124.
Key Points
Contributors are all persons whose information will be required on the FAFSA. All contributors will be required to provide consent for the transfer and use of their personal and federal tax information in the FAFSA. Contributors may include: the applicant; the applicant’s spouse; the applicant’s biological or adoptive parent(s); and the applicant’s parent’s spouse, if remarried. If any contributor does not provide consent for the use of the information on the FAFSA, the FAFSA will be invalid and federal aid cannot be awarded.
Dependent students can use this chart to determine which parent(s) will be a contributor and must provide consent on the FAFSA.
All contributors must create a Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID) in order to provide consent and e-sign the applicant’s FAFSA.
How to create an FSA ID if you do not have a Social Security Number (SSN)
Student Aid Index (SAI) replaces the federal Expected Family Contribution (EFC). An applicant will now have a Student Aid Index (SAI) calculated. Similar to the EFC, the SAI will be based on the applicant’s and other contributors’ income, assets, family size, and other demographic information.
Future Act Direct Data Exchange (FADDX) – This process facilitates the transfer of a contributor’s federal tax and other personal information into the FAFSA. All contributors who filed a U.S. tax return will be required to provide consent and use the FADDX process to import their tax information.
Family Size – Unlike in prior years, an applicant’s family size will be automatically answered by the FAFSA based on the number of dependents claimed on a contributor’s federal tax return. For dependent students, family size will be based on their parent or parents’ claimed dependents. For independent students, family size will be based on their and, if applicable, their spouse’s claimed dependents.
If any additional dependents are being supported by a dependent student’s parent(s) or by an independent student (and/or their spouse), but were not claimed on that contributor’s federal taxes, they can be manually added to the family size by the contributor.
Number in College – Previously, the number of enrolled college students in the applicant’s family impacted the federal EFC calculation. The number of college students in the family will not impact the SAI calculation. Families with multiple enrolled college students in both 2023-24 and 2024-2025 may see a change to their federal aid eligibility from one year to the next based on this update.
For a quick summary of changes, download our 2025-26 FAFSA Simplification Fact Sheet.
Dependent Students
Which parent or parents will need to include their information as contributors on the FAFSA?
- If your biological/adoptive parents are married or in a domestic partnership and filed their federal taxes jointly, only one parent will be a contributor.
- If your biological/adoptive parents are married or in a domestic partnership and filed their federal taxes separately, both parents will be contributors.
- If your biological/adoptive parents are divorced or separated, the parent who provides over 50% of your financial support over the prior year will be the contributor.
- If your biological/adoptive parents are divorced or separated and each parent provided an equal amount of your financial support over the prior year, whichever parent has the greater income and assets will be the contributor.
- If your biological/adoptive parent contributor has remarried and filed taxes separately from their spouse, your parent and their spouse will both be contributors.
My family is familiar with the FAFSA from prior years. What changes to the filing process should we be aware of?
- Contributors are a significant new aspect of the FAFSA, which may change which family members’ information is required on the FAFSA. See above for details on how to determine who your FAFSA contributors are.
- As each contributor enters the FASFA for the first time, they will be directed to an onboarding video to overview the new FAFSA process.
- All contributors must formally provide consent for the use of their personal and tax information on the FAFSA. If any contributor does not provide consent for the use of their information, the FAFSA will not be processed.
- If the student applicant is completing their portion of the FAFSA first, they will be asked to enter their contributors’ information, including an email address. The contributors will receive an email invitation from the FAFSA inviting them to log in and complete their section.
- Instructions for reporting child support received by a contributor have changed. In prior years, child support received by a student’s parent was reported as income in the same base year as other reported income. For example, the 2023-24 FAFSA was based on 2021 tax information, so families reported the child support they received as untaxed income in 2021.
- Child support is now reported as an asset as of the end of the most recently completed calendar year. For example, the 2025-26 FAFSA will request 2023 tax and other income information, but families will report child support they received in either 2024 or 2025, depending on when the FAFSA is completed. The child support will be counted in the SAI calculation as an asset, rather than income.
- Instructions for reporting the net worth of contributor-owned businesses have changed. In prior years, asset information was only required for businesses with at least 100 full-time employees. Starting in 2024-25, the net worth of all contributor-owned businesses must be reported in the asset section of the FAFSA.
- Family farms, which serve as the family’s primary residence, must have their net worth reported in the owner’s asset section of the FAFSA. In prior years, only non-family farms were required to have net worth reported as an asset.
- The way that the family size question (previously called household size) is answered has changed. See above in the General Information section for more details.
Independent Students
I know I am a contributor as an independent student. Are there other contributors whose information will be required on the FAFSA?
- If you are an independent student who is not married or in a domestic partnership, you will be the sole contributor on the FAFSA.
- If you are an independent student who is married or in a domestic partnership, both you and your spouse will be contributors on the FAFSA.
I am familiar with the FAFSA from prior years. What changes should I be aware of?
- Contributors are a significant new aspect of the FAFSA, which may change which family members’ information is required on the FAFSA. See above for details on how to determine who your FAFSA contributors are.
- As each contributor enters the FAFSA for the first time, they will be directed to an onboarding video to overview the new FAFSA process.
- All contributors must formally provide consent for the use of their personal and tax information on the FAFSA. If any contributor does not provide consent for the use of their information, the FAFSA will not be processed.
- Instructions for reporting child support received by a contributor have changed. In prior years, child support received by a student was reported as income in the same base year as other reported income. For example, the 2023-24 FAFSA was based on 2021 tax information, so families reported the child support they received as untaxed income in 2021.
- Child support is now reported as an asset as of the end of the most recently completed calendar year. For example, the 2025-26 FAFSA will request 2023 tax and other income information, but families will report child support they received in either 2024 or 2025, depending on when the FAFSA is completed. The child support will be counted in the SAI calculation as an asset, rather than income.
- Instructions for reporting the net worth of contributor-owned businesses have changed. In prior years, asset information was only required for businesses with at least 100 full-time employees. Starting in 2024-25, the net worth of all contributor-owned businesses must be reported in the asset section of the FAFSA.
- Family farms, which serve as the applicant’s primary residence, must have their net worth reported in the asset section of the FAFSA. In prior years, only non-family farms were required to have net worth reported as an asset.
- The way that the family size question (previously called household size) is answered has changed. See above in the General Information section for more details.
I am a graduate student. Will my federal loan eligibility be impacted by these changes?
No. Because graduate-level federal loans are not need-based, the changes to the FAFSA, including the new SAI formula, will not change your loan eligibility compared to prior years. However, changes to other criteria may impact your eligibility, including but not limited to: your registration status (e.g. full-time, half-time, etc.); the amount of previously borrowed federal loan debt you have; and, in the case of the Federal Graduate PLUS Loan, meeting the credit requirements.