FAFSA & the New Student Aid Index (SAI): How they affect College Financial Aid

 

Article by Katherine O'Brien, MA CCPS, Founder, Celtic College Consultants

Photo by John Schnobrich

In 2021, Congress passed a law calling for simplification and reform of the federal financial aid access process. The FAFSA Simplification Act has been being incrementally implemented; full implementation must be done by 12/31/23. The most significant change is the shift from the EFC to the SAI as metric by which a student's financial aid eligibility is determined.

Because of the complexity of the changes, the Department of Education is completely rewriting the underlying processor. Therefore, the 2024/2025 FAFSA will not be available until 12/31/23 and the data will not begin to be released to the colleges until the end of January, 2024. While this is a delay, it was the norm until just a few years ago to open the FAFSA on 1/1. Financial aid offices should manage to produce aid packages in a timely manner this year, just as they did in the past.

For those with students in college already, please remember that the FAFSA MUST BE FILED EVERY YEAR. Financial aid awards are only for one year. 

What is the SAI?

The SAI or Student Aid Index more accurately describes what the figure calculated by the FAFSA formula is for. The EFC (Expected Family Contribution) was misnamed; families paid more than the EFC. The SAI is the number colleges and governments will use to determine how much and what types of aid a student is eligible to receive.

The information the student and parent(s) enter into the FAFSA are used to calculate the SAI. The index, like the EFC, is based on the parents' available income, the student's income, and assets. Colleges determine each student's financial need by subtracting the SAI from their official COA (Cost of Attendance - the total cost to attend for one year). A student with a lower SAI, then, will be eligible for more federal financial aid, including grants (like the Pell), student loans, and federal work-study. States and colleges determine eligibility for their own grant and aid programs, too.

Plan to spend an hour or so in early January, 2024 to complete the FAFSA online at https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa The student and one parent will need an FSA (Federal Student Aid) ID in order to electronically sign the FAFSA as well as any subsequent federal loan papers. Create an FSA ID here: https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch 

What's the Difference between EFC and SAI?

The formula to calculate the SAI is different from the one used to calculate the EFC. Here are the most significant changes:

Number of Students in College

While this question remains on the FAFSA, the number of students in a family is not part of the SAI calculation. The number of college students in a family no longer impacts the FAFSA output (at least at the federal level). While approximately one-third of families have more than one student in college, this reality is no longer part of the calculations. DO report the number of college students your family has, however, since states and colleges can use this information for their own aid allocations. Financial aid officers do have the ability to reduce the SAI because of the number of students in college.Financial aid officers do have the ability to reduce the SAI because of the number of students in college; this change, when effected, would increase a student's eligibility for federal aid programs. The removal of the consideration of the number of collegians is offset by the increased income protection allowance. I am aware of some testing of this and the offset has been found to work well. 

Income Protection Allowance

Embedded in the FAFSA formula are various tables, including the Parent Income Protection Allowance (IPA). The IPA is significantly higher in the SAI formula than it was in the EFC formula. The IPA amounts depend on the number of people in the household. In general, the IPA is about 20% higher now than it was in the EFC formula.

The SAI can have a Negative Value

The lowest EFC was zero; the SAI can go as low as -$1500. This change allows the neediest students to be identified and more effectively helped. Some hope that financial assistance beyond the COA will be offered in order to help these students cover other college related expenses.

Pell Grant Eligibility

Eligibility for Pell grants is tied to the SAI, along with adjusted gross income and has been increased. Some students who would not have qualified for a Pell based solely on AGI may now qualify with their SAI.

Income Inclusions are Changing

401k contributions (which do not appear on the 1040), clergy and veterans benefits will no longer be included in income. Child support will be counted as an asset. Child support paid will factor in, as will combat pay, co-operative education earnings, state tax allowances, and SEP, SIMPLE, and Keough contributions (because they appear on the 1040).

For divorced families, the parent who provided the most financial support in the prior prior year (NOT the twelve months prior to filing) will be the parent to report information on the FAFSA. For the 2024/2025 school year, 2022 is the base year, the prior prior year.

A Note about 529 Accounts

With the changed formula, only parent owned 529 accounts with the student as beneficiary will be considered as assets. The EFC formula considered ALL 529 assets, no matter the beneficiary, since beneficiaries can easily be changed.

DRT is being replaced by the DDX

The Data Retrieval Tool (DRT), used to transfer income tax data from the IRS database to the FAFSA is being replaced by the Direct Data Exchange (DDX).

Differences at a Glance

How will People be Affected by SAI Changes?

Generally, the SAI formula is expected to result in increased aid eligibility for most students. Of course, the impact of the changes will differ from student to student.

Students from middle- and high-income households with multiple children in college may see a net loss in the total aid they receive. (However, when testing for this, my colleagues only saw such an increase for high-income families.) Additionally, people living in high income states may well see some negative impacts (be eligible for less aid) since state and local taxes are no longer considered in the calculations. Again, higher income families will be more adversely impacted by this change than other families.

Low-income students, particularly those with the greatest need, may well see the most benefit from the changes. Having an SAI which is negative will, hopefully, result in an increased amount of financial aid for these students. The hope is that this will happen, thus making college affordable for them.

Help with your Future Planning

Determining how the SAI will impact your cash flow during your child(ren)'s college years is a complex calculation and may well influence both your financial planning and college planning. Contact me today to schedule a consultation for guidance on cutting college costs and financing higher education. Email Katherine: KOB@CelticCollegeConsultants.com

Financial Aid, Another shake up is on the horizon

 

by Katherine O'Brien, MA CCPS, founder of Celtic College Consultants

With some colleges costing more than $90,000 per year, more families need financial help than ever before. A few years ago, Congress passed a law which has been incrementally been implemented. The final major shift is due to be incorporated into the FAFSA for the 2024/2025 school year. Major changes are coming.

24/25 FAFSA will not be available until December 2023

Because the Department of Education had to completely re-write the processor, the FAFSA will NOT be available October 1, as in recent years. This is how it used to be. Until recent changes, professionals like myself used to work every New Year's Day filing FAFSA forms. This year we will likely see a reprise of that activity.

As of yet, schools with ED (Early Decision) application programs have not stated how they plan to handle this situation. ED applicants must sign a contract as part of their application. If they are accepted by their ED school, they agree to withdraw all other applications and attend their ED school. These schools typically require the CSS PROFILE form so can use that information to create an initial offer of financial aid for these students. Should your teen decide to apply ED, be sure to read all the fine print.

The EFC is being replaced by the SAI

The EFC (Expected Family Contribution) is the number calculated by the former FAFSA formula. Colleges could not award aid exceeding the difference between the COA (Cost of Attendance) and the EFC. The FAFSA formula has been significantly modified and, in some ways, simplified. The SAI (Student Aid Index) will replace the EFC. The SAI can be negative; the minimum EFC was $0. The lowest SAI is -$1,500.

Major changes have been made to the FAFSA Formula

1. The value of businesses and farms are now included. Previously, businesses with fewer than 100 employees were not included as an asset on the FAFSA. Moving forward, ALL businesses and farms will be included. Details about how to value a business have not yet been provided.

2. Non-taxed income will no longer be considered. This is a MAJOR change. Gifts from grandparents and others, child support payments will NOT be reported as income. Income is assessed between 25% and 47%. Child support payments received will now be considered as an asset and assessed at 5.65%.

3. There will be no asset questions for students eligible for free or reduced price lunch programs, whose parents' AGI is less than $60,000 AND their return includes no lettered schedules, and for students whose parents' AGI is less than $60,000 and their only lettered schedule is schedule C and it shows a gain or loss of less than $10,000.

4. Family size will depend on income tax dependents. If your situation is different, or not accurately reflected by the number of dependents on your return, you will need to notify the financial aid office(s) and ask them to take it into consideration.

5. The number of students in college is no longer considered by the formula. However, several other changes to the formula have been made. Experts in this area have been running test cases and have determined that the SAI is not much different for families with two in college. There are, however, significant differences for those families with three or more college students. If this is your situation, do notify the financial aid offices for all of your student children and ask them to consider that fact in your situation. THIS CAN BE CONFUSING; the question about the number of students in college remains on the form, despite it no longer being part of the formula. Please note that the inclusion of this information on the FAFSA form enables colleges to use this information in their process of allocating their institutional funds. The FAFSA formula/SAI is only required for the distribution of federal funds (Pell, SEOG grants, federal loans, etc.)

6. The housing choice question has been removed from the FAFSA. This is odd; colleges do need this information. Expect to see it on the application for admission and/or other forms required by the colleges.

7. The new FAFSA includes optional questions on race and sex. These are for statistical purposes only and will NOT be sent to the colleges. This information will only go to the Department of Education.

8. For students whose parents are divorced, the determination of who their parent is, for inclusion on the FAFSA, has changed slightly. Previously it was the parent with whom the child resided most of the time. It is now the parent who provides the most financial support for the student. If that parent is married, both the parent and his or her spouse's income will be considered, while the other parent (and his or her spouse, if applicable) income will not be reported nor considered. Be aware that most of the colleges using the CSS PROFILE form do require the "non-custodial" parent to also provide income and asset information. 

Keep in mind that the PROFILE form is a completely separate form and process. The PROFILE information is used by colleges to allocate their own institutional aid.

9. Verification will not be randomly selected. Over subsequent years, as the Department of Education (DOE) accumulates data, it is likely that those with certain situations will be more likely to be verified (audited). As more data is gathered, the DOE identifies the situations most likely to be erroneously reported on the form.

10. Pell grant qualification is going to change. Many families currently receiving Pell grants, including some receiving full Pell grants, will no longer be eligible. This is particularly true for farmers and business owners. At the same time, it is expected that many more families (about 2/3 of FAFSA filers) will be eligible for Pell grants. There is significant discussion between financial aid officers regarding how to make up the shortfall in funding dollars for these newly qualifying students. It is considered likely that a number of colleges will not be able to bridge this gap, making college unaffordable for even more students.

There are more changes. These are the most significant of them, and the ones that will impact more families.