New FAFSA (FAFSA Simplification)

The FAFSA Simplification Act significantly changes the processes and systems used to determine federal student aid eligibility. Updates to the FAFSA application have caused delays in how quickly Gonzaga can process financial aid.

Newly Accepted Undergraduate Students: We have created a simple process to provide any newly accepted Gonzaga student with an Estimated Financial Aid Offer while we await official FAFSA data. You can learn more about the process and submit a request for an Estimated Financial Aid Offer on this webpage.

Returning Undergraduate, Graduate, and Law Students: We hope to be able to confirm we've received your FAFSA by the end of March and share financial aid offers for the 2024-2025 school year in April. If you plan to apply for federal and state need-based aid, like the Pell Grant or Washington College Grant, or if you're considering borrowing federal loans, you must submit the FAFSA annually. The good news is that the 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now open, and we've extended the priority filing date to April 1st. We strongly recommend getting started on your FAFSA as soon as possible.

Gonzaga's Student Financial Services Office will update this webpage with the most current information, enabling us to promptly share the latest updates with our students, families, and campus community.

Latest update: 2/14/2024

2024-2025 FAFSA checklist (click the links for helpful videos on each topic!)

Identify who will be contributors on the FAFSA.
Create studentaid.gov accounts. Both students and contributors (parents, commonly) will need accounts.
Gather the information needed.
Complete the 2024-2025 FAFSA at www.fafsa.gov. We encourage you to submit the FAFSA as soon as possible.
Contact us if you need help completing the FAFSA!

We plan to mail financial aid offers to new students by March. We will inform accepted students and their families of any updates to this timeline should we have to deviate from it.

Expected Changes

Timeline for 2024-2025 FAFSA completion

We are pleased to report that the 2024-2025 FAFSA is now available! This year is a departure from the usual October 1st release date, with the application launching in late December. We strongly encourage students to complete the FAFSA as soon as possible. Gonzaga's financial aid office will email you to confirm we've received your FAFSA once the Department of Education shares information with us, we expect to be able to confirm we've received your FAFSA in March.

The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is replaced with Student Aid Index (SAI)

The term for the output of the FAFSA is a measure of a family's ability to pay for college, and it is currently known as EFC (Expected Family Contribution). Starting with the 2024-2025 school year, this term is changing to SAI (Student Aid Index). Students and families will see a different measure of their ability to pay for college and experience changes in the methodology used to determine aid.
You can also expect changes in how a student's family size is determined, aligning more with what was reported on the student or parents' tax returns.

Streamlining the FAFSA Form

The Department of Education is required to streamline the FAFSA where possible, including directly transferring income information from the IRS to calculate Pell eligibility and the SAI. The new FAFSA will have a more user-friendly interface, fewer questions, and an easier way to transfer income from the IRS.

Expanding Access to Pell Grants

Starting with the 2024-2025 school year, the FAFSA Simplification Act is expected to expand access to the Federal Pell Grant and link eligibility to family size and the federal poverty level.

New Terminology

Contributor: anyone who is asked to provide information on the FAFSA. A contributor could be the student, the student's spouse, parent, or stepparents, depending on your dependency status and family situation.
Consent: each contributor will need to provide their consent (permission) to their Federal Tax Information (FTI) being used on the FAFSA.
Federal Tax Information (FTI): FTI is federal tax information that is transferred directly from the IRS to populate questions on the FAFSA application.

Impact on Aid Eligibility

While the full impacts of financial aid eligibility cannot be known right now, the Financial Aid Office has been closely following the changes and developments to help you know what to expect.

Federal and State Financial Aid

The FAFSA Simplification Act is expected to expand access to the Federal Pell Grant. Gonzaga's Financial Aid Office anticipates that more students will be eligible for Pell and other need-based funds, including Federal Subsidized Loans and Federal and State need-based work opportunities.

Gonzaga's Financial Aid Office does not expect the Washington College Grant (WCG) eligibility and College Bound to be greatly impacted. WCG eligibility is determined by income and family size, therefore, minimally affected by the changes in the federal methodology used to measure a family's ability to pay for school.

Institutional (Gonzaga-based) Aid

With the Gonzaga Guarantee we promise you'll receive steady annual institutional aid while an undergraduate student. Your institutional aid is unlikely to change as long as you're enrolled full-time. The Gonzaga Guarantee covers a wide spectrum of institutional aid, including popular options like the Gonzaga Grant, Trustee, Regent, Dean's, Dussault, Achievement, Aloysius, and many other academic scholarships.

Law, Doctoral, and Master's-Level Student Financial Aid

Law, Doctoral, and Master's-level students do not qualify for need-based financial aid at Gonzaga, and therefore, they likely will not be impacted by changes outlined here.