This electronic announcement provides additional resources and highlights key guidance documents for institutions and vendors as they prepare to receive ISIRs and package financial aid offers for students in the coming weeks. As outlined in the March 12, 2024 Electronic Announcement (EA ID: GENERAL 24-20) the U.S. Department of Education has begun transmitting larger batches of ISIRs which should result in the majority of schools, states, and designated scholarship organizations receiving ISIRs in the coming days.
EDconnect Guide for the Most Common Installation Scenarios
To assist partners with installing EDconnect 8.6.1 to access the transmitted ISIRs, we are pleased to provide the EDconnect 8.6.1 Plain Language Installation Guide. This guide summarizes the steps most commonly used when setting up EDconnect. The instructions are written for organizations that currently use EDconnect and wish to keep their existing database.
If you are a new user to EDconnect or if you require more detailed instructions, please refer to the EDconnect Installation and User Guide.
Please note, in order to receive 2024-25 ISIRs, you must sign and submit an updated SAIG enrollment agreement to gain access to the new FTI-SAIG mailboxes. This mailbox is in addition to the SAIG mailbox used in prior years in order to ensure compliance with transmission of federal tax information (FTI). In addition, your organization’s Primary or Secondary Destination Point Administrator (DPA) will need to enroll EDconnect users. Finally, organizations will need to download the latest SAIG software (EDconnect and TDClient) More information on the steps required to receive 2024-25 ISIRs can be found in the in the Oct. 23, 2023 Electronic Announcement (EA ID: GENERAL 23-79). Details of the required SAIG software upgrades are in the Feb, 27, 2024 Electronic Announcement (EA ID: GENERAL 24-14).
Common FAFSA Simplification Questions and Resources
The 2024-25 FAFSA form represents a significant overhaul of federal student aid, including the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form, need analysis, and many policies and procedures for schools that participate in the Title IV programs. The FAFSA Simplification Information page on the Knowledge Center serves as a central repository for all information, guidance, and training related to implementation of the FAFSA Simplification Act. Materials may be searched by keywords or date published. In addition, in the coming weeks we will be posting a 2024-25 Better FAFSA Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page that will be accessible on the FAFSA Simplification Information page and organized by key topics.
In response to common questions received from institutions, states, and scholarship agencies as they receive 2024-25 ISIR files, we are providing a quick link to previous published guidance documents.
Understanding the Student Aid Index (SAI) Versus Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
The 2024-25 Student Aid Index (SAI) and Pell Grant Eligibility Guide provides detailed information on the calculation of the SAI. Primary differences in the calculation from the former EFC include removing the number of family members in college from the calculation, allowing a minimum SAI of -1,500, and, importantly, implements separate eligibility determination criteria for Federal Pell Grants.
Beginning with the 2024-25 award year, the Federal Pell Grant scheduled award determination consists of three steps and does not necessarily include the calculated SAI. Overall, the FAFSA Simplification Act expands the Pell Grant to more students, but the revised calculation will result in a variation of eligibility changes.
Supplemental documents to the 2024-25 Student Aid Index (SAI) and Pell Grant Eligibility Guide include an EFC to SAI Crosswalk, and details on adjusting the Pell Grant due to enrollment intensity, which replaces the need for the Pell Grant Payment and Disbursement Schedules. Appendix C of the guide details how the family size is determined for the SAI calculation, which now aligns with the number of individuals claimed on the tax return.
For more information on calculating the SAI and determining Pell Grant eligibility, please see The 2024-25 Federal Student Aid Handbook, Application Verification Guide, Chapter 3, and Volume 7: The Federal Pell Grant Program.
Treatment of Federal Tax Information (FTI)
The FAFSA Simplification Act and Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education Act (FUTURE Act) mandates that FSA use data received directly from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to calculate Federal Pell Grant eligibility and the SAI. These data include federal tax information received from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and may only be used by our partners for purposes of the application, award, and administration of financial aid programs, including determining eligibility for, and amounts of, funds under the Title IV, HEA programs and other financial aid programs offered by our partners.
Details on the access and use of FTI were outlined in the May 12, 2023 Electronic Announcement (EA ID: GENERAL 23-34). We also have recordings of several FTI related training webinars available on the FSA Training Center. Additional information on the access and use of FTI including updated guidance on sharing data with designated entities is forthcoming.
Supporting Provisionally Independent Students and Unaccompanied Homeless Youth (UHY)
The FAFSA Simplification Act expands discretion in situations where institutions may need to exercise professional judgment, perform dependency overrides, or support students who may be unaccompanied homeless youth. Beginning with the 2024-25 FAFSA, students can indicate on the form that they believe they have an unusual circumstance that prevents them from providing parental data. If they affirm they have unusual circumstances and do not include parental data, they will receive a provisional independent student status and a provisional SAI calculation.
For students who indicate on their FAFSA that they are an unaccompanied homeless youth but do not have a determination by one of the authorizing officials listed on the form, the ISIR will indicate that the student has requested an unaccompanied homeless youth determination from their school. Schools are reminded that these determinations are not considered professional judgments which are granted under unusual circumstances. The April 14, 2023 Electronic Announcement (EA ID: GENERAL 24-20) details the process and requirements for making unaccompanied and homeless youth determinations.
Additional information for unaccompanied homeless youth determinations, and professional judgments for unusual or special circumstances is available in the 2024-25 Federal Student Aid Handbook, Application and Verification Guide, Chapter 5: Special Cases.
Status of 2024-25 FAFSA Applications
As we begin to transmit larger batches of ISIRs, we understand many students will want to know the status of their FAFSA form. Applicants may check the status of their 2024–25 FAFSA form on StudentAid.gov. To check the status, applicants should do the following:
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Log in using their account username and password (FSAID).
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Navigate to their account Dashboard.
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Select "2024-25 FAFSA Form" from the "My Activity" page. The application status will be one of the following:
Draft: Your section of the FAFSA form is incomplete.
In Progress: You provided your consent, approval, and signature to your section of the FAFSA form, but the FAFSA form has not been submitted yet.
In Review: You have submitted your form and your application is still processing.
Processed: Your application was processed successfully. No further action is needed.
Action Required: Your application requires further action from you or your contributor(s). In some cases, you may need to contact your college or career/trade school to resolve the issue.
Closed: Your FAFSA form was never submitted and can no longer be submitted because the federal FAFSA deadline passed.
Contact Information
We welcome our partners to continue to submit questions related to the 2024–25 FAFSA launch, using the Contact Customer Support form in FSA’s Partner Connect Help Center. To submit a question, please enter your name, email address, topic, and question. When submitting a question related to this Electronic Announcement, please select the topic “2024–25 FAFSA.”
Attachments
The Department of Education strives to make all content accessible to everyone. While this document does not currently meet the standards of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, Federal Student Aid is working to create an accessible version. If you need access to this document before the accessible version is available, please contact the Information Technology Accessibility Program Help Desk at ITAPSupport@ed.gov to help facilitate.