The resources and information on this page detail the many changes to the FAFSA for the 2024-25 application cycle. We do not anticipate significant changes for the 2025-26 application cycle. Educators and community members who help students and families complete the FAFSA and ORSAA can use this page as a training reference to stay updated on these changes.
Table of contents
The FAFSA Simplification Act
The FAFSA Simplification Act required changes to the FAFSA for students attending college in Fall 2024 and beyond. The ORSAA also changed.
Stay informed on FAFSA and ORSAA updates
Financial Aid Toolkit
Financial aid is any form of funding that helps a student pay for college. Learn how to teach students and families about college financial aid options with our new toolkit.
Trainings for FAFSA and ORSAA Updates
Watch recordings of the free virtual trainings for the FAFSA and ORSAA updates. These videos are for anyone in the state who wants to help students complete the FAFSA or ORSAA this year, such as school staff, college access professionals, community volunteers, family members, and more. The trainings cover the diverse needs of all helpers, and each video has an intended audience that you can choose from based on your role and interest.
Participants asked many questions during the training. Download the 24-25 FAFSA-ORSAA Training FAQs to read the experts' responses.
2024-25 FAFSA and ORSAA Training Part 2: FAFSA Overview
Audience: All
2024-25 FAFSA and ORSAA Training Part 3: Deep Dive
Audience: FAFSA and ORSAA Specialists
Financial Aid Toolkit Training
Audience: FAFSA and ORSAA Specialists
On-demand training
From Oregon Goes To College:
From the Oregon Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (OASFAA):
From Federal Student Aid:
Changes to the application
The FAFSA simplification brought many changes, such as changes to the format, questions and processing of the form. See the summary below.
Current FAFSA |
VOCABULARY
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Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is out, Student Aid Index (SAI) is the new term. Other things to note:
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| Colleges will include "Food and Housing" to calculate COA. Moreover, the COA must include 21 meals per week. |
| Family size is imported from tax information. The FAFSA will include a question about family size. If it is answered and the number is different than what is imported, the entered response will be used. |
| Students receive a FAFSA Summary Submission. Note: Federal Student Aid has declared this will never become an acronym. |
| Students can share personal circumstances. |
FSA ID
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| Both students and parents are required to have an FSA ID. The application must be submitted online. |
| An email address is required to obtain an FSA ID. Students and parents are not able to share an email address for this purpose. Every person creating an FSA ID will need a unique email address and phone number. |
| There is a process for parents without social security numbers to be verified. Federal Student Aid has stated that if a parent passes the verification process, the FSA ID is immediately usable. |
LANGUAGE
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The form, along with resources and translation services, is available in the 11 most commonly spoken languages in the U.S. This includes the majority of the most commonly spoken languages in Oregon, except for Ukranain and Marshallese. |
FAFSA PARENT
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| The parent who contributes the most financially is responsible. Any child support recieved by this parent is not included in income. "Contributor" replaces "parent" as the preferred term. |
COLLEGES
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| Students can identify up to 20 colleges. |
IRS DATA RETRIEVAL
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| All tax information is inputted via the IRS. This should reduce the number of students selected for verification. |
529 PLANS
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| Only 529 plans opened (and therefore owned) by parents are included in the SAI calculation. Plans opened by grandparents or other family members are not included. |
PELL ELIGIBILITY
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| Pell eligibility is determined in two ways. Poverty tables will be used to determine eligibilty for minimum and maximum Pell grants. All other Pell amounts will be awarded based on the SAI. This may mean that two students with the same SAI will receive different Pell amounts if their family income and size places them at different points on the poverty table. |
In addition, we also know the following
- The changes are expected to increase the number of Pell-eligible students by half a million, to 7.4 million students. Use this simulator tool to estimate who may be eligible in the future.
- When a student begins the FAFSA, their parent will have 45 days to complete it.
- Colleges can still use additional data, such as the CSS Profile or their own financial aid application to distribute institutional grants and scholarships.
Oregon Goes To College supports and partners with schools, colleges, and the following organizations to make these resources possible.
