Major FAFSA 2025-2026 changes coming December 1st - what should we know?

Hey there! So the 2025-2026 FAFSA has some HUGE changes coming. The biggest one is that they're replacing the EFC (Expected Family Contribution) with the SAI (Student Aid Index). It's not just a name change - the calculation is completely different. They're also simplifying the form from 100+ questions down to about 36, which is nice.\n\nOther major changes:\n- More students will qualify for Pell Grants (expanded eligibility)\n- Different treatment of small businesses and family farms\n- Changes to how multiple students in college are counted\n- Divorced/separated parents reporting is changing (it's the parent who provides the most financial support rather than who the student lives with)\n\nThe December 1 launch date is because they needed extra time to implement all these changes. Definitely start gathering your tax docs from 2023 now!

Thank you SO much! This is exactly what I needed. Do you know if the SAI calculations will be tougher or easier on middle-income families? We're right on that edge where my daughter didn't qualify for much last time, but our finances haven't really improved.

my sisters kid just started college this year and they said the FAFSa was a total nightmare!!! they kept having to resubmit forms and got different answers everytime they called. good luck with that december launch date lol

Ugh, that's what I'm afraid of. Did they eventually get it sorted out? I'm thinking of just hiring a financial aid consultant at this point.

yeah but it took like 2 months!! they finally got all the grant money in february which is crazy late

The 2025-2026 FAFSA simplification is actually quite significant. In addition to what's been mentioned, here are some technical changes that might affect your situation:\n\n1. The SAI can now go as low as -1500 (unlike EFC which couldn't go below 0), which helps identify the students with the greatest financial need\n\n2. Income protection allowances are increased, meaning more of your income is shielded from the calculation\n\n3. The number of children in college no longer divides your contribution - this may hurt families with multiple students\n\n4. Small businesses with under 100 employees are excluded from asset calculations\n\n5. The Male Registration with Selective Service and drug conviction questions are removed\n\n6. For divorced parents, it's now about financial support rather than where the student lives\n\nDepending on your family's specific situation, these changes could work in your favor or against it. The middle-income situation has improved for many families due to the increased income protection allowances, but if you have multiple children in college simultaneously, that particular change might offset those gains.

This is incredibly helpful! We're definitely in that middle-income bracket, and we only have the one child in college at a time, so maybe we'll see some improvement. Thank you for taking the time to explain all of this!

I'm FURIOUS about the multiple children in college change. We have twins going to college next year and under the old system, our EFC would've been split between them. Now with this SAI nonsense, we'll likely get MUCH less aid. So much for

You're right that the multiple children change is going to hit some families hard. Unfortunately, there's no direct FAFSA workaround, but you should definitely have your kids apply for twin/multiple birth scholarships - there are quite a few out there specifically for twins/triplets. Also, when you get your aid packages, you can submit special circumstances appeals to each college's financial aid office explaining your situation with the twins. Some colleges have institutional funds they can use to help in these cases.

Thank you - I didn't know about twin-specific scholarships! Will definitely look into those and the appeals process.

Just went through the whole process last year and honestly the FAFSA website is TERRIBLE. It kept crashing and we had to restart like 3 times. The worst was trying to get help - you call that 1-800 number and wait 2+ hours just to get disconnected! So frustrating!!

I had the same problem last month trying to fix an error on my son's application. After getting disconnected twice and waiting on hold for over 3 hours total, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that holds your place in line and calls you back when an agent is available. Saved me from wasting an entire day on hold. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ\n\nWith all these FAFSA changes coming, I'm definitely using it again when we inevitably run into problems with the new system in December.

omg thank you!! will definitely check this out

This is so helpful! Bookmarking for December when I'm sure I'll need it. Thanks for sharing!

Has anyone heard if they're fixing the contribution for divorced parents? My ex makes 3x what I do but since our daughter lives with me more than 50% of the time, I've had to fill out the FAFSA in previous years. It's so unfair because my income is much lower but they don't take his into account at all.

Yes, this is actually one of the major changes! Starting with the 2025-2026 FAFSA, the parent who provides the most financial support will complete the FAFSA, rather than the parent the student lives with. So in your case, if your ex provides more financial support, they would be the one to complete the FAFSA, which could result in less aid since their income is higher. However, if you provide more financial support despite having lower income, you would still complete it.

Thank you! I actually provide more financial support even with the lower income (he barely pays child support), so this should work out better for us.

One thing no one's mentioned yet is the data transfer changes. The 2025-2026 FAFSA will use direct data transfer from the IRS, which means you'll need to create an FSA ID for any contributor (parents/spouse) before starting the application. Each person will need their own email address and phone number for this. It's supposed to make the process easier by pulling tax data automatically, but it adds this extra step up front.

Oh that's good to know! My husband and I share an email for most financial stuff. I'll make sure we set up separate FSA IDs with different emails. Do you know if they need to be completely different emails or could I use something like myemail+husband@gmail.com as a variation?

Unfortunately they need to be completely different email addresses. The email+variation trick won't work for FSA IDs. They're really strict about this because of security concerns. Each parent/contributor needs their own unique email that no one else is using for their FSA ID.

Got it - I'll set up a new email address for him. Thank you!

i heard they are geting rid of the drug convition question! is that true?? asking for a friend lol

Yes, that's correct. The 2025-2026 FAFSA will no longer ask about drug convictions. Previously, drug convictions could limit a student's eligibility for federal student aid, but this question has been removed as part of the simplification process.

thx thats good news for my...friend

One more important tip - since this is such a major overhaul of the system, I'd strongly recommend completing the FAFSA as close to the December 1 launch as possible. Not only is aid often first-come-first-served at many schools, but if there are any technical glitches or clarifications needed (which seems likely with such big changes), you'll have more time to resolve them before college deadlines. \n\nAlso, CSS Profile schools (mostly private colleges) may have their own additional changes this year, so check if any of your daughter's schools require that too.

That's a great point. I think I'll block off that whole first weekend in December to work on this. And yes, a couple of the schools on her list require the CSS Profile too. Is that changing in similar ways?

The CSS Profile is updated annually, but the changes are typically not as dramatic as what's happening with FAFSA this year. However, the CSS Profile has always been more detailed than FAFSA and considers more factors like home equity and regional cost of living. If you have significant home equity but relatively modest income, you might find the CSS Profile calculations less favorable than FAFSA. The good news is that some CSS Profile schools are very generous with institutional aid to make up for this.

Thank you again! This is all such valuable information. I feel much more prepared now.

Just wanted to add one more thing that might be helpful - if your daughter is considering any schools that offer early action or early decision (non-binding), you might want to encourage her to apply to those since the FAFSA won't be available until December 1st. Some schools have their own institutional aid applications that can be completed earlier, and getting an early acceptance can take some pressure off while you're navigating the new FAFSA system. Also, I've found it helpful to create a spreadsheet with all the schools she's interested in, their FAFSA deadlines, CSS Profile requirements, and any school-specific aid applications. With all these changes this year, staying organized is going to be more important than ever!

As someone who just went through this process with my son last year, I can't stress enough how important it is to have all your documents ready before December 1st. The new FAFSA will pull directly from your 2023 tax returns, so make sure those are filed and processed by the IRS well in advance. One thing I wish I'd known earlier - keep digital copies of everything! Bank statements, investment accounts, business records if applicable. The new system is supposed to be more streamlined, but when you inevitably need to provide verification documents to colleges, having everything organized digitally will save you so much time. Also, don't panic if the SAI number looks weird compared to what you're used to seeing with EFC. The scale is completely different, so a negative number isn't necessarily bad - it actually might mean more aid eligibility. Each college will interpret these numbers differently anyway when putting together aid packages.