FAFSAยฎ Simplification
The President of the United States signed theย Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSAยฎ) Simplification Actย into law on December 27, 2020. As a result, the FAFSAยฎ has changed. Significant adjustments include a simplified FAFSA and expanded Pell Grant eligibility. Due to the FAFSA challenges during the 2024โ25 school year, the Department of Education had initially delayed the availability of the 2025โ26 FAFSA; however, as of Nov. 22 it is live.
How Can I Prepare for the 2025โ26 FAFSAยฎ?
- Create your FSA ID on theย Federal Student Aid websiteย and assistย contributors, such as your parent(s) or spouse, in creating an FSA ID.
- An FSA ID is an account and password that gives you access to the online FAFSAยฎ and serves as your e-signature.
- With the FSA ID, you can fill out the FAFSAยฎ when itโs available, sign your federal student loan Master Promissory Note (MPN), complete loan counseling and apply for repayment plans once you graduate.
- Complete the FAFSAยฎ as soon as it is available to be evaluated for federal, state, and institutional need-based financial aid.
- The deadline for Pennsylvania residents to submit the FAFSA is May 1, 2025.
Susquehannaโs 2025โ26 Financial Aid Timeline
The following timeline provides an anticipated overview of the financial aid timeline. Changes will be made as more information becomes available.
- Nov. 22, 2024 โย The 2025โ26ย Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSAยฎ)ย opened.
- Mid-January 2025ย โย Admitted students with an eligible FAFSAยฎ on file with Susquehanna University (School Code: 003369) will begin receiving their comprehensive financial aid offer letters that highlight theirย net costย (direct costs minus financial aid) to attend Susquehanna University during the 2025โ26 academic year.
- March 15, 2025 โย Priority deadline for filing the FAFSAยฎ. Admitted first-year students are eligible for a FAFSAยฎ Grant of $1,000 per year โ renewable if the FAFSAยฎ is submitted annually โ for four years. Your FAFSAยฎ must be filed with SUโs school code (003369) by March 15, 2025.ย Students who are awarded Tuition Exchange or Tuition Remission are not eligible.
- April 2025 โย Enrolling and current students will begin to receive payment options information for the 2025โ26 academic year, including but not limited to, payment plans, private financing and external scholarships.
- June 2025 โย Current, returning students with an eligible 2025โ26 FAFSAยฎ on file will begin receiving their comprehensive financial aid offer letter via the United States Postal Service that highlights theirย net costย (direct costs minus financial aid) to attend Susquehanna University during the 2025โ26 academic year.
- July 2025 โย Enrolling and current, returning students will receive their first e-statement notification denoting their fall 2025 semester balance due by Friday, Aug. 1.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are contributors on the FAFSAยฎ?
A contributor refers to the student, the studentโs spouse, a biological or adopted parent, or the parentโs spouse (stepparent). A contributor is NOT a grandparent, foster parents, legal guardian, brother or sister, aunt, or uncle, even if they helped provide for or raise the student in some way. Please note, a contributor on the FAFSAยฎ form doesnโt mean they are financially responsible for the studentโs education costs.
2. How are contributors determined?
The studentโs or parentโs answers will determine which contributors (if any) will be required to provide information.
3. What do contributors need to provide?
These contributors will be invited to create an FSA ID and complete their portion of the FAFSAยฎ form by entering their name, date of birth, Social Security number, and email address. They must also provide personal and financial information in their own sections of the FAFSAยฎ form.
4. What are the steps contributors must follow?
- The contributors receive an email informing them that theyโve been identified as a contributor.
- The contributor creates a StudentAid.gov account if they donโt already have one.
- The contributor logs in to account using their FSA ID account username and password.
- The contributor reviews information about completing their section of the FAFSAยฎ form.
- The contributor provides the required information on the studentโs FAFSAยฎ form.
5. What if I am a contributor and donโt want to provide my information in my studentโs FAFSAยฎ?
Being a contributor does NOT implicate financial responsibility. However, if a required contributor refuses to provide their information, it will result in an incomplete FAFSAยฎ form, and the student will become ineligible for federal student aid.
6. What if my parents are divorced? Who is the contributor to my FAFSAยฎ?
Students that live with a single/divorced/widowed parent and receive most support from that parent, will report only one parent on the FAFSAยฎ. The parent included in the FAFSAยฎ as a contributor must be the parent that provides the greater portion of the studentโs financial support. If that primary parent is remarried, the income of that parentโs spouse (stepparent) will also be required.
7. Why does the FAFSAยฎ require consent from students and contributors?
According to the Future Act, all students and contributors must provide consent to the following:
- Have their federal tax information transferred directly into the FAFSAยฎ form via direct data exchange with the IRS.
- Have their federal tax information used to determine the studentโs eligibility for federal student aid; and
- Allow the U.S. Department of Education to share its federal tax information with postsecondary institutions and state higher education agencies for use in awarding and administering financial aid.
- Important:ย Even if students or contributors donโt have a Social Security number, didnโt file taxes, or filed taxes outside of the U.S., they still need to provide consent.
8. What if I donโt want to provide consent as a student or a required contributor?
If a student or required contributor doesnโt provide consent to have their federal tax information transferred into the FAFSAยฎ form, the student will not be eligible for federal student aid โ even if they manually enter tax information into the FAFSAยฎ form. Information about how federal tax information will be used and the consequences of not providing consent will be included on the FAFSAยฎ form. Legal parents must provide consent to transfer federal tax information, even if one of the parents didnโt file or had no income. If parents fail to provide consent, the student wonโt be eligible to receive federal student aid.
9. What is FSA ID, and who needs it?
All students and contributors must create a StudentAid.gov account to complete the FAFSAยฎ form online. Students and contributors will use their FSA ID account username and password to log in to their accounts. Even if a parent or spouse contributor doesnโt have a Social Security number, they can still get an FSA ID using their ITIN to fill out their portion of the studentโs FAFSAยฎ form online.
10. Do parents and students need to wait until the FAFSAยฎ opens to create an FSA ID?
The FSA ID process is not changing. Itโs even better that parents and students can create the FSA ID and have it ready any time before the FAFSAยฎ application starts.
11. How do I or other contributors create an FSA ID?
To create an FSA ID, youโll need your Social Security number (SSN). Other information required is full name and date of birth. Youโll also need to create a memorable username and password and complete challenge questions and answers to retrieve your account information if you forget it. Youโll be required to provide your email address or mobile phone number when you make your FSA ID. Providing a mobile phone number and/or email address that you have access to will make it easier to log in to ED online systems and allow you to verify your FSA ID before using it on the FAFSAยฎ and additional account recovery options. This Federal Student Aid video can help create a step-by-step FSA ID.
12. Do parents without social security numbers also need to have an FSA ID?
Parents without social security numbers must create an FSA ID. When parents begin the FSA creation process, in the โPersonal Informationโ section check the box to indicate โI donโt have a Social Security numberโ and click continue. When the warning appears, the parent should click โContinue Without SSN.โ Parents can then proceed with the process. At the end of the process, they will be required to answer knowledge-based identity verification questions and will be instructed to provide additional information to Federal Student Aid. Identity verification will be confirmed within 1-3 days by email, after which the FSA ID will be created and ready.
13. What if my parents are not in the United States?
Your parentsโ citizenship status doesnโt affect your eligibility for federal aid. They (your parents) cannot create a FSA ID if theyโre not U.S. citizens but you can complete the FAFSAยฎ on paper and ask for their signatures. For FAFSAยฎ purposes, you must provide your parentsโ income, no matter where they reside.
14. My parent(s) remarried. Is the parentโs spouse required to get an FSA ID as well?
If the parent you indicate on the FAFSAยฎ is the parent who remarried, itโll depend on how they filed taxes. If they filed jointly, only one parent needs an FSA ID. If they filed separately, both parents would need their own FSA ID.
15. Will parents and students need to create a new FSA ID if they have had an FSA ID in the past?
You can retrieve your existing FSA ID if you forgot your username and password.
16. I created an FSA ID at a FAFSAยฎ night at my high school and could not use it immediately. Do you recommend creating it a few days before?
We have seen situations when a parent creates their FSA ID, verifies it, and is ready to use, and the system asks them to wait 24-48 hours to do so. It depends on the information matching system. We recommend creating it a few days before starting the form. FSA IDs made on the day of might work, but will not have full functionality yet, like using the Direct Data Exchange (FADDX) to transfer tax information.
17. Why do I have to set up two-step verification for my StudentAid.gov account?
Two-step verification, a form of multi-factor authentication (MFA), helps protect your StudentAid.gov account with additional protection from fraud.
18. Does each contributor need a unique phone number or email for multi-factor authentication?
Yes, this is very important. For example, a student and parent cannot use the same phone number for MFA.
19. Do both parents need to create FSA ID?
This depends on the familyโs situation. For example, if a student has married parents filing taxes separately, both parents will need to make an FSA ID.
20. Who is my parent on the FAFSA?
Your parent on the FAFSA will be the parent who provided the most financial support during the last year. FAFSA will offer a โparent wizard,โ which offers a series of filtering questions to determine which parent(s) must be included on the FAFSA.
21. What is the impact if the student and parent already have FSA IDs?
It will ensure they are verified and ready to use when the FAFSAยฎ opens in December.
22. Iโm a parent and I do not want to create an FSA ID, is there an alternative for that parent to provide consent, such as mailing a physical signature on the consent page?
There are two alternative options for contributors to provide consent who do not want to or refuse to create an FSA ID:
The other option is for the student completes their section and self-reports information for the parent section on the FAFSAยฎ form. When the student submits their FAFSAยฎ form without the parentโs signature, it will be placed in rejected status by the FAFSAยฎ Processing System (FPS). The parent can then provide their signature and consent on a paper copy of the FAFSAยฎ Submission Summary. This method is not recommended due to complexity and increased processing time.ย
The first example would be the student applying using the paper FAFSAยฎ and obtaining physical signatures from all contributors, including the parents, who also affirm their consent.
23. What is consent, and why do I have to provide it when completing the FAFSAยฎ?
The Future Act requires that every contributor on the FAFSAยฎ provide consent to share their taxes information in the application so that the IRS can share this information with Federal Student Aid (FSA). All parties whose Federal Tax Information (FTI) is included on a studentโs FAFSAยฎ form must consent annually.
The consent will be required when a student submits a FAFSAยฎ, chooses Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) when starting loan repayment, or submits the Total and Permanent Disability discharge (TPD) within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for totally and permanently disabled students.
The consent is necessary not only for the Department of Education to request federal tax information from the IRS but also to use that FTI in the federal student aid application process, as well as do other things such as redisclose that information to certain eligible entities, such as higher education institutions.
24. What happens if I, as a student, or a spouse or parent, donโt want to provide consent on the FAFSAยฎ?
If a student, spouse, or parent doesnโt provide consent on the FAFSAยฎ, the Student Aid Index (SAI) will not be calculated, and the student will not be eligible for any federal aid.
25. What if my parents (or spouse) had a low income and were not required to file taxes?
They still need to provide consent when submitting the FAFSAยฎ, so the IRS can confirm to Federal Student Aid (FSA) that the student, parents, and spouse didnโt file taxes.
26. Will non-custodial parents be contributors if they have not claimed the child on their taxes?
Students will determine which parent to report based on which one provides the most financial support. It is ok if the parent or parents reported do not claim the student on their taxes. The reported parents will provide consent to transfer their taxes data even if they do not claim the student on their taxes.
27. If parents that are remarried provide more support to the child than a biological parent, does the stepparent have to provide their taxes information?
Yes. If the parent providing more financial support is remarried, the stepparentโs tax information is required.
28. What if my parent or stepparent does not want to provide their tax information for my FAFSAยฎ?
Our Federal Aid Counselors can offer to talk directly with the parent or stepparent to explain why that information is needed and answer any questions, which sometimes puts them at ease about how their sensitive info will be used. However, we cannot provide tax advice.
29. How do I report small business or farm value as assets on the FAFSAยฎ?
Independent students or parents are the best sources for this estimate; they can also consult their accountant or other financial professional if they have access to one to estimate the amounts to report.
30. My parent(s) is self-employed โ do they still need to say they own a business?
Being self-employed does end up showing business income on tax returns, but it depends on the type of work whether they will have to report any assets associated with their business.
31. I, and/or my parents or spouse, amended our taxes. Will my Federal Tax Information (FTI) be transferred, or do I have to provide a 1040X later to the school?
When the student, spouse, parent, and/or stepparent provides consent, the IRSโs Federal Tax Information (FTI) will include the information from an amended tax return.
32. Can I self-report my income on FAFSAยฎ?
After you provide consent on the FAFSAยฎ, if the IRS cannot transfer your Federal Tax Information (FTI) to your FAFSAยฎ application, the application will allow you to self-report it. Self-reporting oneโs tax information on the FAFSAยฎ does not override the requirement for each required contributor to provide consent on the FAFSAยฎ form. So, two pieces โ they need to provide consent and share their tax information, either directly from the IRS or self-reported manually, on the FAFSAยฎ form.
33. If a parent of a dependent student or an independent student is a non-filer and has zero wages, do they have to provide consent?
Any individual who is a contributor to the FAFSAยฎ application must provide consent. This includes parents, and independent students, regardless of their tax filing status. Generally, the parents of independent students are not contributors and would, therefore, not need to provide consent.
34. What happens if a contributor provides consent but doesnโt sign the application?
There are two options for filing a FAFSAยฎ form: electronically, through studentaid.gov, or the option to file on paper which will also be available. However, once an application is started online, all parties must complete it online. So that means that if a signature is missing, the parent or the contributor that needs to complete their section and/or sign the application must obtain an FSA ID and get into the application and complete their section.
There is no option to print a signature page. For this reason, financial aid administrators will not be able to submit complete FAFSAยฎ forms because of the consent provision that all contributors must provide and sign.
Students and parents will be required to have an FSA ID to complete the FAFSAยฎ application online. If they choose to mail a paper FAFSAยฎ, both will need to provide consent on the paper FAFSAยฎ, and both will need to provide physical signatures and mail the application to the Department of Education address on the paper application. This method is not recommended due to complexity and increased processing time.
35. In what situations will there be a match with IRS, but IRS wouldnโt provide information?
Fraud or identity theft are the most likely reasons for the IRS not providing tax information to the applicant or the contributor. If the contributor has been flagged by the IRS, possibly due to identity theft or a breach of some sort to their information, then the IRS response code will be IRS enabled to provide information.
36. If my parent does not want to or refuses to create an FSA ID, is there an alternative for that parent to provide consent, such as mailing a physical signature on the consent page?
There is no longer a separate signature page, and there wonโt be a consent signature option on paper. There are two alternative options for contributors to provide consent who do not want to or refuse to create an FSA ID. One option is to submit a paper FAFSAยฎ form completed by all contributors and mailed to the Federal Student Aid. This method is not recommended due to complexity and increased processing time.
37. What is the Student Aid Index (SAI)?
SAI, or Student Aid Index, is a number used to determine eligibility for need-based aid. It is calculated using information the student (and contributors, if required) provides on the FAFSAยฎ form.
- Important: Your federal award equates to the following formula:
- Need = Cost of Attendance (COA) โ Student Aid Index (SAI) โ Other Financial Assistance (OFA).
38. How is Pell Grant eligibility determined?
Maximum Pell Grant – Students may qualify for a maximum Pell Grant based on family size, adjusted gross income, poverty guidelines, and tax filing status.
Student Aid Index (SAI) – Students who donโt qualify for a maximum Pell Grant may still be eligible if their calculated SAI is less than the maximum Pell Grant award for the award year. The studentโs Pell Grant award will be equal to the maximum Pell Grant for the award year minus their SAI.
Minimum Pell Grant – Students whose SAI is greater than the maximum Pell Grant award for the award year may still be eligible for a Pell Grant based on family size, adjusted gross income, and poverty guidelines.
39. If the family size is manually adjusted, will the SAI only be calculated based on the size drawn from the taxes?
It will be based on the family size that the family entered, if different from the taxes. Students may have to provide additional information if selected for verification.
40. What constitutes unusual circumstances on the FAFSAยฎ?
- Unusual circumstances are when a student is unable to contact a parent or where contact with the parent poses a risk to the student.
- Applicants who indicate on their FAFSAยฎ form that they have unusual circumstances will be granted provisional independent status.
- Examples of unusual circumstances include human trafficking, legally granted refugee or asylum status, parental abandonment or estrangement, and student or parental incarceration.
- What else do you need to know:
- Students with unusual circumstances will be granted provisional independent status and can complete the FAFSAยฎ form without providing parental information.
- Students with this provisional independent student status will receive an estimate of their federal student aid eligibility.
- A financial aid administrator will make the final determination of a studentโs unusual circumstances based on the documentation that the student submits to the school, or the financial aid administrator may perform their own personal assessment.
- If a school approves a studentโs unusual circumstances, their independent student status will remain if the student stays at the same school and their circumstances donโt change.
- All unusual circumstances must be documented.
41. How can I be considered an independent for the FAFSAยฎ?
An independent student is one of the following:
- born before Jan. 1, 2002
- married (and not separated)
- a graduate or professional student
- a veteran or a member of the armed forces
- an orphan
- a ward of the court
- someone with legal dependents other than a spouse
- an emancipated minor
- someone who is unaccompanied and homeless or self-supporting and at risk of being homeless
42. When should a student seek a dependency override? Only after theyโve decided on what school theyโre attending?
The dependency override is an important step in seeing how much financial aid theyโll be eligible for. It is certainly a lot of work, but if the student is up to it, itโs preferable for the student to pursue the override before deciding so they can see accurate financial aid offers for each of their schools.
43. What is provisional independence?
- Students can receive provisional eligibility calculation.
- Students with unusual circumstances directed to independent student flow.
- Approved unusual circumstance determinations will carry forward.
44. What are the other types of professional judgement appeals students and families can request?
Contact Student Financial Services (SFS) if any of the above applies to you.
Have Questions?
Contact Us
Student Financial Services
514 University Ave.
Selinsgrove, Pa. 17870
Location
Student Financial Services Office
Phone & Email
570-372-4450