Pace students near Alumni Hall on the Pace Westchester campus
Financial Aid

FAFSA Simplification

Preparing for the 2025-2026 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

The 2025–2026 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is scheduled to be available to complete beginning December 1, 2024, at StudentAid.gov. The FAFSA submission deadline for Pace University is February 15, 2024. To stay alerted of the ongoing updates and issue resolutions being made to the 2024–2025 FAFSA please check the 2024–2025 FAFSA Issue Alerts webpage.

What You Need to Know About FAFSA Simplification

"The FAFSA Simplification Act represents a significant overhaul of the processes and systems used to award federal student aid starting with the 2024–2025 award year. This includes the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, need analysis, and many policies and procedures for schools that participate in federal student aid programs. This law will also affect every state that uses FAFSA data to award state grant aid and every school that participates in the federal student aid programs." - Federal Student Aid

Benefits to Students, Families, and Borrowers

  • Expanding access to federal aid.
  • Reduces the amount of documentation required for the FAFSA.
  • Expanded eligibility for federal Pell Grants
  • Streamlining the FAFSA form.
  • Resources for completing the FAFSA form will be expanded to the 11 most common languages spoken in the United States.

New Terms to Know for the 2025–2026 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

  • Student Aid Index (SAI) is replacing Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
    • This name change more accurately describes the use of this number which is to determine aid eligibility.
    • The SAI can be a negative number, unlike the EFC.
  • Contributors
    • Anyone who is required to provide information on a student's FAFSA such as the student, parent, stepparent, or spouse. This includes parents without social security numbers.
  • IRS Direct Data Exchange
    • In the past, students and parents had the option to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool or manually enter their tax data. Starting with the 2025–2026 FAFSA form, all contributors must provide consent for the Department of Education (DOE) to receive tax information or confirmation of non-filing status directly from the IRS.
  • Custodial Parent in cases of divorce or separation
    • Previously, dependent students would provide the information for the parent that they lived with most in the previous 12 months. Now the parent information provided would be for the parent who provided the most financial support to the student in the previous 12 months.

FAFSA Simplification FAQ

  • The specific release date for the 2025–2026 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is scheduled for December 1, 2024. The FAFSA Is typically made available in October of each year but the 2025–2026 FAFSA will be delayed with a scheduled launch date of December 1, 2024.

  • Both you and one of your parents (if applicable) will need to create an FSA ID to file your FAFSA.

    You can create an FSA ID on the Federal Student Aid website.

    You will need your Social Security Number (or your Alien Registration Number if you are not a U.S. citizen), along with your driver's license number (if you have one). Additionally, prepare a list of the colleges and universities you wish to send your FAFSA information.

    Pace University's FAFSA School Codes (only use one)

    • NYC Campus - 002791
    • Pleasantville Campus - 002792
    • White Plains Campus - 002727
    • Streamlined Application Process: The FAFSA simplification act significantly streamlines the application process, providing a more user-friendly experience. The application has been reduced from 108 to 46 questions. However, based on the answers, not all students will be required to answer all 46 questions.
    • Automatic Tax Data Transfer: Starting with the 2024–2025 academic year, all FAFSA applicants must grant consent for the Department of Education to directly retrieve tax information or confirmation of non-filing status from the IRS. This is referred to as the FUTURE Act Direct Data Exchange (FA-DDX) and will replace the previously known, Data Retrieval Tool (DRT). This change minimizes the need for manual data entry, making the process more straightforward for most applicants.
      • Any contributor who does not provide consent can still submit the FAFSA but a Student Aid Index (SAI) will not be generated. This will prevent schools from creating comprehensive financial aid packages.
    • Automatic Pell Grant Awards: Families with incomes less than 175% (or single parents with incomes less than 225%) of the federal poverty level will automatically receive the maximum Federal Pell Grant award. Minimum Pell Grants will be guaranteed to students from households below specified income thresholds, depending on household structure. Pell award amounts between the maximum and minimum will be determined by the Student Aid Index (SAI).
    • Custodial Parent Changes: The custodial parent on the FAFSA will be the parent(s) who provided the most financial support to the student, rather than the parent that the student lived with for the last 12 months.
    • Child Support Reporting: Child support received will be included with the assets and not part of untaxed income.
    • Number in College: The number of family members in colleges will not be used in calculating the SAI.
    • Small Business and Family Farm Reporting: Families with small businesses or family farms must report their value. If the family farm includes the primary residence, applicants should calculate the net value of all farm assets and subtract the net value of their principal residence to determine the final value of their farm assets.
    • Contributors without Social Security Numbers: Parents and spouses who do not have Social Security numbers can now create an FSA ID.
    • Dependency Determination: Foster, homeless, unaccompanied youth and students who cannot provide parental information on the FAFSA can complete and submit the FAFSA form with a provisional independent student determination and receive an SAI. Additional information will be required of these students before making a final dependency determination.
    • Number of College Codes: Students can list up to 20 colleges on the FAFSA.
    • Additional Language Options: The FAFSA will be available in the 11 most commonly spoken languages.
    • The FAFSA will still request tax information from the prior-prior year, which means you'll report 2023 income and assets on your 2025–2026 application.

  • Pace University's priority submission deadline to file the 2025–2026 FAFSA is February 15, 2024.

    Financial Aid offers will begin going out to newly admitted students for the Fall 2025/Spring 2026 academic year in late January 2025*.

    Returning students will receive their 2025–2026 financial aid offer letters once the Spring 2025 semester ends in May 2025.

    *Subject to change due to Department of Education delays.

New FAFSA Filing Process

  1. Student logs into StudentAid.gov/FAFSA using their unique FSA ID.
  2. Student completes their section of the form and adds contributor information.
    • If a dependent student's parents are separated/divorced, the custodial parent's information should be provided.
    • The custodial parent is determined, for the purposes of FAFSA, based on whichever parent provided the most financial support for the student during the past 12 months.
  3. The FAFSA contributor receives an email from FAFSA requesting their information be provided.
  4. The contributor logs in using their FSA ID and completes their portions of the form.