2025-2026 FAFSA/CASFA Simplification Impacts

Some Parents or Spouses (also known as Contributors) without SSN were previously unable to start or contribute to the FAFSA.

The Department of Education has resolved this issue. The Contributor without an SSN can now complete and submit the FAFSA. It is recommended that the student starts the FAFSA and then invite the Contributor to the form to avoid any further glitches.

Contributors without SSN’s will need to manually enter federal tax information. It is still recommended that they provide their Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).

In some cases, applicants and their contributors may still be receiving an error message. The Department of Education is working on a resolution. Impacted families should wait to invite any Contributor without an SSN to the form until the issue is resolved. For more information on issues impacting students who have Contributors without an SSN, please visit the FAFSA Contributor Update page.

Contributors without SSN will still have to register for an FSA ID. Please follow the below instructions to do so:

Contributors Without Social Security Number Step-by-Step Guide

Contributors Without Social Security Number Step-by-Step Guide (Spanish)

Students and Contributors are required to complete and sign the FAFSA. A Contributor may include a biological parent, an adoptive parent, a step-parent, or a student’s spouse determined by the student’s information provided on the FAFSA. All students and contributors are required to register for an FSA ID in order to complete and submit the FAFSA.

An FSA ID is required for all students and contributors to better protect their FAFSA information. To create an FSA ID, name, social security numbers and either email or phone number must be provided. You can setup an FSA ID at: http://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch

Contributors without a social security number (SSN) still need to set up an FSA ID. Please follow the below instructions to do so:

Contributors Without Social Security Number Step-by-Step Guide

Contributors Without Social Security Number Step-by-Step Guide (Spanish)

Students and Contributors are required to provide consent to approve the use and disclosure of their federal tax information (FTI). Once consent is provided, most families will have their 2022 federal tax information directly transferred into their FAFSA. If the consent is not provided, students will not be eligible for most types of financial aid.

The student and all contributors will be asked for their approval and consent when filling out the FAFSA.

On past FAFSA submissions families manually entered their household size. For the 2024-2025 FAFSA and beyond, household size will be updated to the number of dependents listed on your or your parents’ 2022 U.S. Federal Tax Return when the information is transferred directly from the IRS. Please review this carefully, as you may update this information if it doesn’t accurately reflect your or your parents’ household size.

You or your family are still required to report the number of household members attending college. However, the Department of Education no longer considers this in their need analysis calculation that determines eligibility for need-based aid. This may change your financial aid eligibility from prior years for certain awards in the 2024-2025 academic year.

If you are a dependent student for FAFSA purposes but are unable to provide parental data due to extenuating and unusual circumstances, such as homelessness, parental neglect or abuse, you will still be able to submit your 2024-2025 FAFSA under a provisional independent status. The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships will help you determine what other documentation is necessary to submit in order to be considered for financial aid eligibility as an independent student.

It depends. Some students and their families may be required to submit additional information to the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships (OFAS) in order to determine eligibility for financial aid.

Please monitor your university email account and “My Financial Aid” on the Student Hub closely to view any outstanding and required documentation or information needed. OFAS cannot offer you financial aid until you have submitted all required documentation and your file is considered complete.

Once your file is complete, OFAS will send you a Financial Aid Offer Letter to your university email account. You can view and accept offered aid under “My Financial Aid” on the Student Hub.

Due to FAFSA processing delays, the earliest you may receive a Financial Aid Offer Letter will be in the beginning of May.

• With the 2024-2025 FAFSA, Expected Family Contribution (EFC) will be replaced with Student Aid Index (SAI) ‒ this is a new need analysis formula that the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships will use when awarding need-based grants and scholarships.
• You’ll notice several new terms like contributor (anyone who is asked to provide information on the FAFSA, a parent or student spouse for example) and consent (each contributor will need to consent to their information being included on the FAFSA).

• The adjustments to the new Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation will expand Federal Pell Grant eligibility to 1.5 million more students according to the Department of Education.

Students and contributors are now able to make corrections or updates to their FAFSA. For guidance on how to do this, please click here.

If your submitted FAFSA on studentaid.gov is in an “Action Required” status this means that the Department of Education determined that you need to make a correction to your FAFSA.

Assistance with FAFSA: Educational Opportunity Center

Assistance with CASFA: MSU Denver Immigrant Services

Use the Federal Student Aid Estimator to estimate how much federal student aid you may be eligible to receive in the 2024-25 award year.

Explore helpful financial aid videos from the U.S. Department of Education

RED: What Students Need to Know about the New FAFSA

RED: FAFSA is Delayed. Now What?