天美传媒

Beginning with the 2026鈥�2027 award year, the net worth of certain businesses and farms will no longer need to be included when calculating the and should not be reported as assets on the FAFSA庐 form. They are:

• Family-owned businesses with 100 or fewer full-time (or full-time equivalent) employees
• Farm on which the family resides
• Commercial fishing businesses, and related expenses, owned and controlled by a family

The following changes to Pell Grant eligibility will take effect beginning with the 2026鈥�2027 award year:

• Income earned from working abroad must now be included in the calculation of a student鈥檚 adjusted gross income (AGI) when determining Pell Grant eligibility
• Students with an SAI equal to or greater than twice the maximum Pell Grant award will be ineligible for a Pell Grant. For the 2026-2027 award year, students would need to have an SAI of under $14,790. Note: This limit does not apply to students who qualify for a Pell Grant under the Special Rule (dependents of certain deceased servicemembers and Public Safety Officers).

Understand how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act introduces immediate and upcoming changes to federal student aid programs. For a detailed breakdown of how this impacts Adelphi students, review our full guide on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The 2025鈥�2026 FAFSA庐 changes include the following:

• The is an online tool to help dependent students identify which parent(s) will be a required contributor on their FAFSA庐 form.
• The label for the homelessness question changed from 鈥淪tudent Other Circumstances鈥� to 鈥淪tudent Homelessness.鈥�
• If the student selects 鈥淵es鈥� to have their school determine their eligibility for a Direct Unsubsidized Loan only, and then selects 鈥淐ontinue,鈥� a pop-up window appears warning the student that they will not be eligible for most federal student aid.
• A new page confirms if their information was successfully matched with IRS records to request federal tax information to help complete the financial sections.

A contributor is anyone who is asked to provide information on an applicant鈥檚 FAFSA庐, including:

1. The student
2. The student鈥檚 spouse (if applicable)
3. A biological or adoptive parent
4. The spouse of a remarried parent who is on the FAFSA庐 鈥� the stepparent

The student will need their contributor鈥檚 name, date or birth, social security number (SSN), and email address in order to invite them to complete the required portion of the FAFSA庐. The contributors will also need to provide personal and financial information on their section of the FAFSA庐.

All contributors are required to have an FSA ID and to provide consent to have their Federal Tax Information transferred from the IRS to be used by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to use their information to determine a student鈥檚 eligibility for federal financial aid. Consent is provided once for the award year and cannot be revoked. The consent is necessary, even if the contributor does not have an SSN, did not file taxes, or filed taxes in another country.

If a dependent student鈥檚 parents are unmarried and living together, both parents will be contributors. They need to have separate FSA IDs and both need to provide consent.

Dependent students whose parents filed their U.S. income tax return as Married Filing Jointly only require one parent contributor to complete their FAFSA庐.

If a student鈥檚 parents filed separately, both parents will be considered contributors and therefore need separate FSA IDs, and both must provide consent.

If an independent student is married and filed separately, both individuals are contributors, must have FSA IDs, and must provide consent for the student to be eligible for Title IV aid.

The will replace the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) on the FAFSA庐 form. Students and families will see a different measure of their ability to pay for college and experience a change in the methodology used to determine aid. Although the methodology is changing, the calculation of the SAI is different from the EFC calculation. This, in return, can cause a change for a student鈥檚 aid eligibility at the federal, state, and institutional level.

No benefit for having sibling(s) in college: The 鈥渟ibling discount鈥� will be the biggest change in aid eligibility for some students, as this is being eliminated. The determination for this to be eliminated was made by Congress, and can only be changed by Congress.

The FAFSA庐 Simplification Act will expand the Federal Pell Grant to more students and link eligibility to family size and the federal poverty level. New eligibility formulas and funding are estimated to increase Pell Grant recipients by nearly 15%

Eligibility for the Pell Grant will be determined in three steps:

1. Maximum Pell Grant – Applicants may qualify for a Maximum Pell Grant based on family size, adjusted gross income (AGI), and poverty guidelines. Students qualifying for a Maximum Pell Grant will have an SAI between negative $1,500 and $0
   1. Non-filers – Independent students (and spouse, if applicable) tax non-filers and dependent children of non-filing parent(s)
   2. Children of certain deceased veterans and public safety officers – Students under age 33 whose parent(s) died in the armed forces after September 11, 2001 or students under age 33 who parent(s) died in the line of duty as a public safety officer
2. Student Aid Index (SAI) – Applicants who do not qualify for a Maximum Pell Grant may still qualify for a SAI-Calculated Pell Grant if their SAI is less than the maximum for the award year. The applicant鈥檚 Pell Grant award for full-time enrollment will be equal to the maximum Pell Grant for the award year, minus the SAI.
3. Minimum Pell Grant – Applicants whose SAI is greater than the Maximum Pell Grant award for the award year may still qualify for a Pell Grant, based on family size, AGI, and poverty guidelines

Families making less than 175% and single parents making less than 225% of the federal poverty level will see their students receive a maximum Federal Pell Grant award. Minimum Pell Grants will be awarded to students from households below 275%, 325%, 350%, or 400% of the federal poverty level, depending on household structure. Pell Awards between the maximum and minimum amounts will be determined by SAI.

Inclusion of family farms or small businesses: When required, families will now report the value of their farms or businesses. While this inclusion continues to be debated in Congress, it will be required to be reported for appropriate families on the FAFSA庐 and can influence the SAI.

Students with unusual circumstances are defined as: A student whom a financial aid administrator makes a documented determination of independence by reason of unusual circumstances, which prevents the student from contacting parents.

The circumstances could include:

1. Human trafficking, as described by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq)
2. Legally granted refugee or asylum status and are separated from their parents, or their parents are displaced in a foreign country
3. Parental abandonment or estrangement and have not been adopted
4. Abusive or threatening environment or student or parent incarceration and contact with parents would pose a risk to the student

Other students will continue to qualify as independent on their FAFSA庐 form and are not required to provide parental information if they:

1. Are active-duty military
2. Are a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces
3. Were an orphan, ward of the court, or in foster care at the age of 13 or older
4. Are or were a legally emancipated minor or in legal guardianship as determined by a court in the student鈥檚 state of legal residence
5. Are a student unaccompanied and either homeless or self-supporting and at a risk of being homeless

Here are some things that are not changing:

1. FAFSA庐 will still be required for federal aid consideration, along with consideration for 天美传媒 to determine a student鈥檚 eligibility for institutional need-based aid and state aid awarding. The FAFSA庐 is required to be submitted annually for all enrolling and re-enrolling students
2. Questions introduced in 2023-2024 about the applicant鈥檚 sex, race, and ethnicity have no effect on federal student aid eligibility and remain only for statistical purposes
3. Dependency status questions that determine a student鈥檚 dependency on the FAFSA庐 will remain the same
4. The FAFSA庐 will request tax information from the prior year. Families with a significant reduction in income levels can review our special circumstances page and appeal for more assistance
5. Our degree-seeking students will be eligible for student loan amounts, assuming they complete the FAFSA庐 and are not in default on their previous student loans
6. Because some aid programs are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, an early FAFSA庐 application received priority consideration for limited funding sources

These are some of the notable changes that are coming to the 2024-2025 FAFSA庐 form:

• Simplification: The FAFSA庐 will reduce the maximum number of questions from 108 to 36; but some students will not be subjected to all 36 if some questions are deemed as no longer relevant.
• Tax/Income Data: In the past, students would enter their tax information (or their parent(s) if they were dependents) on the form themselves, or with using an IRS Data Retrieval Tool. However, all persons listing tax information on the FAFSA庐 will be required to use the IRS Direct Data exchange (DDX) to share tax information or confirm non-filing status. This change also requires the student, spouse, and/or all parents with tax data reported to generate an FSA ID.
• Student Aid Index (SAI): FAFSA庐 previously calculated an Estimated Family Contribution (EFC), which ranged from 鈥渮ero to 999,999鈥�. Now, the FAFSA庐 will produce the Student Aid Index programs and compare them to other students. This number can also be negative, with the minimum SAI being -1500.
• Questions being removed: The questions removed are as follows (but not limited to):
  • The student鈥檚 housing choice
  • The student鈥檚 interest in Federal Work-Study (FWS) employment
  • Taxable earnings from need-based employment
  • The student鈥檚 driver鈥檚 license number and state
  • The highest school completed by the student鈥檚 parent (it will now ask whether either parent attended college)
  • The college degree or certificate a student will be working on when they begin the award year
  • Whether the student or parent filed IRS Schedule 1
  • The dislocated worker

A contributor is anyone who is asked to provide information on an applicant鈥檚 FAFSA庐 including:

1. The student
2. The student鈥檚 spouse (if applicable)
3. A biological or adoptive parent
4. The spouse of a remarried parent who is on the FAFSA庐 鈥� the stepparent

The student will need their contributor鈥檚 name, date or birth, social security number (SSN), and email address in order to invite them to complete the required portion of the FAFSA庐. The contributors will also need to provide personal and financial information on their section of the FAFSA庐.

All contributors are required to have an FSA ID and to provide consent to have their Federal Tax Information transferred from the IRS to be used by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to use their information to determine a student鈥檚 eligibility for federal financial aid. Consent is provided once for the award year and cannot be revoked. The consent is necessary, even if the contributor does not have an SSN, did not file taxes, or filed taxes in another country.

If a dependent student鈥檚 parents are unmarried and living together, both parents will be contributors. They need to have separate FSA IDs and both need to provide consent.

Dependent students whose parents filed their U.S. income tax return as Married Filing Jointly only require one parent contributor to complete their FAFSA庐.

If a student鈥檚 parents filed separately, both parents will be considered contributors and therefore need separate FSA IDs, and both must provide consent.

If an independent student is married and filed separately, both individuals are contributors, must have FSA IDs, and must provide consent for the student to be eligible for Title IV aid.

The Student Aid Index (SAI) will replace the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) on the FAFSA庐 form. Students and families will see a different measure of their ability to pay for college and experience a change in the methodology used to determine aid. Although the methodology is changing, the calculation of the SAI is different from the EFC calculation. This, in return, can cause a change for a student鈥檚 aid eligibility at the federal, state, and institutional level.

The Student Aid Index (SAI) is an eligibility index number that a college鈥檚 financial aid office uses to determine how much federal student aid the student would receive if the student attended the school. This number results from the information that the student provides in their FAFSA庐 form.

The Federal Student Aid Estimator estimates the SAI.

No benefit for having sibling(s) in college: The 鈥渟ibling discount鈥� will be the biggest change in aid eligibility for some students, as this is being eliminated. The determination for this to be eliminated was made by Congress, and can only be changed by Congress.

The FAFSA庐 Simplification Act will expand the Federal Pell Grant to more students and link eligibility to family size and the federal poverty level. New eligibility formulas and funding are estimated to increase Pell Grant recipients by nearly 15%

Eligibility for the Pell Grant will be determined in three steps:

1. Maximum Pell Grant – Applicants may qualify for a Maximum Pell Grant based on family size, adjusted gross income (AGI), and poverty guidelines. Students qualifying for a Maximum Pell Grant will have an SAI between negative $1,500 and $0
   1. Non-filers – Independent students (and spouse, if applicable) tax non-filers and dependent children of non-filing parent(s)
   2. Children of certain deceased veterans and public safety officers – Students under age 33 whose parent(s) died in the armed forces after September 11, 2001 or students under age 33 who parent(s) died in the line of duty as a public safety officer
2. Student Aid Index (SAI) – Applicants who do not qualify for a Maximum Pell Grant may still qualify for a SAI-Calculated Pell Grant if their SAI is less than the maximum for the award year. The applicant鈥檚 Pell Grant award for full-time enrollment will be equal to the maximum Pell Grant for the award year, minus the SAI.
3. Minimum Pell Grant – Applicants whose SAI is greater than the Maximum Pell Grant award for the award year may still qualify for a Pell Grant, based on family size, AGI, and poverty guidelines

Families making less than 175% and single parents making less than 225% of the federal poverty level will see their students receive a maximum Federal Pell Grant award. Minimum Pell Grants will be awarded to students from households below 275%, 325%, 350%, or 400% of the federal poverty level, depending on household structure. Pell Awards between the maximum and minimum amounts will be determined by SAI.

Inclusion of family farms or small businesses: When required, families will now report the value of their farms or businesses. While this inclusion continues to be debated in Congress, it will be required to be reported for appropriate families on the 2024-25 FAFSA庐 and can influence the SAI.

Students with unusual circumstances are defined as: A student whom a financial aid administrator makes a documented determination of independence by reason of unusual circumstances, which prevents the student from contacting parents.

The circumstances could include:

1. Human trafficking, as described by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq)
2. Legally granted refugee or asylum status and are separated from their parents, or their parents are displaced in a foreign country
3. Parental abandonment or estrangement and have not been adopted
4. Abusive or threatening environment or student or parent incarceration and contact with parents would pose a risk to the student

Other students will continue to qualify as independent on their FAFSA庐 form and are not required to provide parental information if they:

1. Are active-duty military
2. Are a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces
3. Were an orphan, ward of the court, or in foster care at the age of 13 or older
4. Are or were a legally emancipated minor or in legal guardianship as determined by a court in the student鈥檚 state of legal residence
5. Are a student unaccompanied and either homeless or self-supporting and at a risk of being homeless

Here are some things that are not changing:

1. FAFSA庐 will still be required for federal aid consideration, along with consideration for 天美传媒 to determine a student鈥檚 eligibility for institutional need-based aid and state aid awarding. The FAFSA庐 is required to be submitted annually for all enrolling and re-enrolling students
2. Questions introduced in 2023-2024 about the applicant鈥檚 sex, race, and ethnicity have no effect on federal student aid eligibility and remain only for statistical purposes
3. Dependency status questions that determine a student鈥檚 dependency on the FAFSA庐 will remain the same
4. The FAFSA庐 will request tax information from the prior year. Families with a significant reduction in income levels can review our special circumstances page and appeal for more assistance
5. Our degree-seeking students will be eligible for student loan amounts, assuming they complete the FAFSA庐 and are not in default on their previous student loans
6. Because some aid programs are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, an early FAFSA庐 application received priority consideration for limited funding sources