Starting the Financial Aid Process

The Department of Education has announced that the newly overhauled 2024-25 FAFSA will be open to students and families by December 31, 2023.

FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. It’s the form used to determine a student’s financial need.

Students who choose not to submit a FAFSA will not be eligible for any institutional, federal or state need-based aid, and they also will not be eligible for outside scholarships that are based on financial need. Students should still be eligible for institutional merit scholarships. At GMercyU, merit scholarships are awarded at the time of admission.

YES! While we all wait for the 2024-25 FAFSA to be released by the Department of Education, you can give yourself a head start in completing the financial aid process by creating your FSA ID!

The FSA ID is something that students and parents/guardians need to have in order to complete the FASFA. The student needs an FSA ID and parent(s)/guardian(s) also need their own FSA IDs. To complete this process, simply go to https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch and follow the instructions.

Keep your FSA ID in a safe place! You will need it each time you complete the FAFSA.

Did You Know? You will need to complete the FAFSA for each academic year you’re enrolled in college.

For 2024-2025, the federal government has shortened the FAFSA and made it easier to complete by automating the input of tax information. Here are some key things to know about the FAFSA completion process:

• Applicants are required to use their IRS data exchange feature. 
  Previously, users had the option to enter their tax information manually or use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. Beginning with 2024-25, students and parents/guardians will be required to use the IRS Direct Data Exchange to share tax information or confirm non-tax-filing status. This change makes it easier to complete the FAFSA and reduces the number of questions each person has to answer.
  
  
• All "contributors" must provide financial information. 
  A “contributor” refers to anyone who is required to provide information on a student's FAFSA form (such as a parent/stepparent or spouse). For example, if you are a “dependent” student – meaning you live at home with one or more parents/guardians – those parent(s)/guardian(s) will need to provide access to their tax information on the FAFSA.
  
  To invite a contributor to your FAFSA form, you'll need to provide their name, date of birth, Social Security Number, and email address. Be sure to gather this information prior to starting the 2024-25 FAFSA.
  
  IMPORTANT: Being a contributor does not mean the person is financially responsible for the student's education costs, but it does mean the contributor must provide tax information on the 2024-25 FAFSA in order for the FAFSA to be considered complete.
  
  
• What happens if I or my "contributor(s)" do not have a social security number? 
  If you do not have a Social Security Number, but are an eligible noncitizen, select the "Eligible noncitizen" option under the "Student Citizenship Status" section. To determine whether you are an Eligible Noncitizen, please review the information on this site: StudentAid.gov/noncitizen.
  
  Your parent does not need a Social Security number (SSN) to complete the student's FAFSA form. Starting in December 2023, parents will be able to get an FSA ID (account username and password) without having an SSN. On the 2024–25 FAFSA form, if the parent is completing their own section and doesn't have an SSN, the SSN will be blank or prefilled with an assigned pseudo-SSN.
  
  
• The Student Aid Index (SAI) is replacing the expected family contribution (EFC). 
  Student Aid Index (SAI) will replace the previous Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The SAI is used to determine the student’s financial need.
  
  If you or a family member has filed the FASFA in a prior year, here are some things that will change: (If you have never completed a FAFSA, feel free to skip to the next section.)
  
  
  • Whereas the EFC did not go below $0 in the prior FAFSA, the new SAI can be as low as -$1,500. However, this does not necessarily mean the student will be eligible for more need-based aid.
  • Some students will automatically be awarded a Pell Grant. The new FAFSA seeks to expand eligibility for the Federal Pell Grant program. While some students may become eligible for higher financial aid amounts, it’s important to understand that others might experience a reduction in their eligibility.
  • The number of household members attending college will not be calculated into the SAI.
  • The net worth of a business is no longer limited to those businesses with more than 100 full-time employees. Applicants will be asked to report the net worth of all businesses, regardless of size.
  • The net worth of a farm now includes the value of a family farm.
  • Child support received will be reported as an asset on the FAFSA instead of as untaxed income.

With this tool, students can find out how much federal student aid you may be eligible for starting with the 2024–25 award year. Access the Federal Student Aid Estimator Tool at https://studentaid.gov/aid-estimator/ .

Applicants who do not agree to share their tax information via the IRS Data Exchange Tool (see above) will not have access to the Federal Student Aid Estimator Tool.

If you are applying for aid for the 2023-24 academic year, you will need to complete the 2023-24 FAFSA. The 2023-24 FAFSA uses the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) to determine aid eligibility.