There are significant changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2024-25 academic year. The 2024-25 FAFSA form is now available to complete on the U.S. Department of Education website – www.studentaid.gov. The Mount's federal school code is 002086.
The financial aid staff at Mount St. Mary’s is available to assist you and answer any questions that you might have. If you would like to schedule an appointment to receive assistance with the completion of the FAFSA, please reach out to the financial aid office.
There are a number of changes based on the FAFSA Simplification Act that should make completing the FAFSA easier.
The number of questions have been reduced for the FAFSA and the form has information and help text for each question.
The FAFSA is completed is silos – one section for the student and one section for the parent information. The parent is not referred to as the contributor.
In prior years there was an option to use the IRS Data Retrieval tool, but starting with the 2024-25 FAFSA, all individuals who provide information on the FAFSA must provide consent for the U.S. Department of Education to retrieve tax information directly from the IRS. You must consent even if you did not file taxes.
Anyone who is required to provide information on the FAFSA is referred to as a contributor. When the student starts the FAFSA, the student will answer a series of questions to determine who will be the contributors (Parent information) for the FAFSA.
Each contributor must have an FSA ID to log into the FAFSA. The contributor will access the FAFSA for the student with a link in an email invitation that is received after the student provides contact information in the FAFSA for the contributor.
This is a change in terminology. When the FAFSA is processed the student will now receive a SAI number. This number will be used like the EFC to determine eligibility for Federal and institutional need-based aid at the Mount.
In prior years, for dependent students were instructed to use the parent that the student lived with most during the 12 prior months. This has changed with the new FAFSA and now in situations where the parents are divorced or separated, the parent (contributor) will be the parent that provided the most financial support to the student. If he parent that provided the most financial support is remarried, the parent and the step-parent income information is required to be provided in the contributor section.
Mount St. Mary's University Financial Aid Office is here to help you! Please reach out with any questions you have, and please watch your email inbox for upcoming Financial Aid events, including those covering the FAFSA.
For questions or help, contact: