Filing the 2025-2026 FAFSA

The FAFSA is anticipated to open on December 1, 2024. We encourage all returning students to complete the 2025-2026 FAFSA by April 1, 2025.

What to expect when filing the FAFSA:

• The application is fully student-led, dependent students (applicants) must invite their parent(s) to contribute to their application.
• Both applicants and contributors must provide consent and approval to use the Federal Tax Information Approval to transfer their federal tax info directly from the IRS.
• You will need to include the net worth of family farms and small businesses on the application.
• The FSA ID process is available to individuals without a Social Security Number.
• If parents are unmarried but live together or are married and filing taxes separately, both parents must have an FSA ID.
• Make sure that the address reported on the FAFSA matches the address on your tax return(s).

 Student Aid Index (SAI)

• SAI reflects the FAFSA results, not what a family is expected to pay.
• The SAI or federal poverty tables will determine the Pell Grant eligibility.

Login and Demographic Information

• The student must provide the legal name, Social Security number, birthdate, and email of the parent(s) who will contribute to the FAFSA (if no SSN, a mailing address will be required). The parent(s) will then receive an email to add their information to the existing form.
• Applicants and contributors must log in separately to complete their respective sections.
• Applicants and contributors must give consent to retrieve and disclose federal tax information.
• This includes non-tax filers, those without Social Security numbers, and foreign tax filers.
• Demographic survey questions include ethnicity and race options.
• If you already have an FSA username and password, you don’t need to create a new one.

Who Contributes to your FAFSA?

The parent who provided the most financial support must contribute their information on the application. This may not be the parent that you reside with.

Resources for filing the FAFSA

Federal Student Aid has a YouTube channel where they are posting a selection of videos created to help navigate the new FAFSA process. Some of our favorites include:

• Create and Access Your StudentAid.gov Account (FSA ID)
• Who Is a Contributor on the FAFSA® Form?
• Understand and Prepare FAFSA® Form Contributors
• Gather Information Required To Complete the FAFSA® Form
• FAFSA® Simplification Fact Sheet Student Aid Index (SAI)

Questions about the FAFSA?

Reach out to the staff in the Office of Financial Assistance and Planning for help: financialassistance@cornellcollege.edu or call 319.895.4216 to make an appointment to meet with us in Old Sem.