Office of Financial Aid

• Contributor: anyone who is asked to provide information on the FAFSA -- student, student spouse (if married), parent(s), and stepparent(s) for example.
• Consent: each contributor will now need to provide their consent to their Federal Tax Information (FTI) being included in the FAFSA, even if they did not file a U.S. tax return.
• SAI: Student Aid Index (SAI) replaces the Expected Family Contribution (EFC).
• FTI: Federal Tax Information (FTI) transferred directly from the IRS.

• More streamlined application process with fewer questions and an easier way to transfer the tax information directly from IRS.
• For students whose parents are divorced or separated, the Custodial Parent on your FAFSA will be the parent who provides you with the most financial support and will no longer be the parent with whom you lived with the most over the past 12 months.
• Foster, homeless, and unaccompanied youth -- as well as applicants who cannot provide parental information -- will be able to complete the form with a provisional independent student determination and receive a calculated SAI, however these students must meet with a financial aid counselor before an offer letter can be created.
• The number of family members in college will no longer be used in determining need-based aid eligibility calculation.

All FAFSA contributors regardless of citizenship status must have their own FSA ID to log into the online FAFSA form. Your FSA ID will serve as your legal signature when completing electronic documents. You can create your FSA ID at any time at studentaid.gov. We encourage you to complete this step as soon as possible.

When you are creating your FSA ID account, you will be required to enter a mailing address and a personal email address. You are unable to use an email address that is already connected to another FSA ID.

Parents and spouses without a Social Security Number (SSN), will be able to create their own FSA ID account in December 2023.

If the parent and student have already completed a FAFSA in the past, you already have your own FSA ID. For assistance retrieving your FSA ID and/or password please visit studentaid.gov.

• Each contributor (student, student spouse, parent(s) and/or stepparent) will have to provide consent.
• If any contributor does not provide their consent the Student Aid Index (SAI) will not be calculated, and we will not be able to determine your eligibility for federal and state financial aid.