Just as you might be breathing a sigh of relief that the first round of applications are submitted, it’s time to think about scholarships & accessing financial aid. Federal Student Aid, the US Department of Education Office that manages the FAFSA, is in the process of fully overhauling the application process. Whether you have a college student, a HS student in the thick of applications, or are looking to what’s ahead down the road a year or two from now, there’s much to know about what to expect when the new application opens in December of 2023.
Read on for what you need to know about making the most of opportunities for scholarships and financial aid with the FAFSA changes coming next month– 
Who should complete a FAFSA? 
The FAFSA is not just for students and families considering accessing need based financial aid to help with the costs of college. A FAFSA must also be completed if a student is considering taking out student loans, and in some cases, is a required submission for students who wish to be considered for merit aid (aka scholarship opportunities) at their college. In addition, FAFSA forms must be submitted each year, so a student who is already in college will need to resubmit each year of college.
To know the requirements at the colleges you are applying to, carefully review the information on the financial aid website for each college where you will submit an application.
The new FAFSA form will not be open to fill out until December, and a specific date has not yet been announced. In the meantime, here are a few highlights of the key changes you should know: 
Every Student & Parent Needs an FSA ID. 
In order to complete a FAFSA, every student and ‘contributor,’ FSA’s new term for any parent or adult providing financial support, will need to create or obtain access to their already existing FSA ID. Both student and parent (contributor) need their own FSA ID to complete the form. We recommend doing this right away to reduce stress and hassle when the application opens in December. Create or log in to your FSA ID here.
Every Student & Contributor must provide consent to access tax information. 
The new FAFSA Form will pull tax information directly from the IRS using an updated Direct Data Exchange (DDX) process. Even if the student, parent, or contributor did not file taxes, this permission is required for the student to qualify for financial aid.
Student Aid Index is the new Expected Family Contribution
On the old FAFSA form, a family received an EFC dollar amount that was intended to be a reflection of a family’s financial ability to contribute towards the student’s college education. Because of the confusion that this term produced in the past, this will now be called a student’s SAI, or Student Aid Index. As before, it does not reflect the actual financial aid or cost of college, but rather is an input used by FSA in calculating qualification for federal aid, and by colleges in calculating a financial aid package. This dollar amount is now being calculated using a different formula, intended to extend Pell Grant Eligibility to a wider range of students.
The New SAI calculation could change your family’s eligibility
For students who will be receiving help from other sources, such as grandparents, that support is no longer included in the new SAI calculation. However, one of the most significant changes that will impact many families is that the number of children in college will also be excluded from the calculation. In the past, a family’s expected contribution was per family, spread across the number of dependents attending college in the same year. Going forward, there will not be consideration given to multiple siblings attending college in the same year.
If all of this feels overwhelming, you are not alone!