Changes to the FAFSA Process—What you need to know.
new Undergraduate Students
- Early Action Application Deadline: Nov. 15
- Priority Deposit Deadline: June 1
- Priority FAFSA Deadline: Feb. 15
CURRENT STUDENTs
- FAFSA Deadline: April 1
UHart's Federal school code is 001422
Beginning with the 2024–2025 academic year, there will be changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This is based on the passing of a new federal law passed by Congress called the FAFSA Simplification Act. The goal of these changes is to expand access to federal student aid and provide a new FAFSA experience for students and families.
The Office of Student Financial Aid is here to assist families in completing the FAFSA in person or via virtual appointment.
Questions?
Contact the Office of Student Financial Aid:
860.768.4296 or finaid@hartford.edu
FAFSA Timeline
The 2024-25 FAFSA application is now live.
During the launch period of the 2024-25 FAFSA form, the FSA will have planned pauses in access to the site for routine maintenance to ensure an optimal user experience. If an applicant or contributor is in the midst of an application during one of these routine and temporary shut downs they will be able to complete their work. If a user is unable to access their account or the application, it is likely because of a temporary shutdown of the site and they are encouraged to check back later.
Priority FAFSA Application Deadline for new students: February 15
FAFSA Application Deadline for returning students: April 1
Questions about the status of your FAFSA?
Due to the FAFSA changes this year, there are some delays in processing FAFSA applications. UHart (and other schools) will not receive FAFSA information until early March—even if you submitted it earlier. During this time, we will be unable to confirm receipt of your FAFSA form. However, once you complete the FAFSA form, you will receive a confirmation page and email that includes your estimated Student Aid Index (SAI)—this means your FAFSA application has been completed. Once our Office of Student Financial Aid receives your official FAFSA application from the Department of Education, we will work diligently to process and share information about your aid as soon as possible. Thanks for your continued patience.
FAFSA Completion Incentive
The University has extended the priority deposit deadline from May 1 to June 1 for all Fall 2024 incoming students. We have also extended the FAFSA Completion Incentive to June 1 and increased the incentive from $1,000 to $2,000. Families who have already completed the FAFSA and those who complete it by June 1 are eligible for the $2,000 incentive.*
Completing the FAFSA by June 1 allows us to review your institutional need-based aid and complete your financial aid package. We continue to encourage families to submit as soon as possible to maximize the aid available to you.
*The $2,000 FAFSA incentive may not be combined with other partial non-need-based award offers and will not be applied if the total financial aid award equals or exceeds full tuition. The FAFSA incentive is for first-year students for Fall 2024 only.
Timeline Updates
The Department of Education has notified us that they are on track to begin sending FAFSA information to schools in which a student has applied in the first half of March. Though the information will be slowly received at first, they anticipate that the majority of information will be sent out through the end of March.
The U.S Department of Education has started to release FAFSA results to schools. The distribution has begun with a slow trickle of information to schools—with an anticipated release of more reports as the month proceeds.
As of now, UHart has received a select number of FAFSAs and we are working diligently to get these uploaded into our system over the next couple of weeks. We feel optimistic about meeting our initial goal of releasing financial aid award packages in early-mid April.
The Department of Education has informed us that not all submitted FAFSA’s have been processed as of today—and that it make take up to two weeks to process the backlog of FAFSA forms in their system. Despite the delay, you are now able to check the status of your 2024-25 FAFSA at studentaid.gov. This is the best option for you to check your current status, as we do not have access to this information for all students.
A comprehensive list of status updates and their definitions can be found here. We encourage you to check your status as soon as possible in the event that updates need to be made to your FAFSA based on their review.
From the Department of Education:
Student corrections are now broadly available for applicants and their contributors. Last week, the Department made student-initiated corrections available for brief periods while we completed testing. Since then, the Department has successfully processed more than 100,000 corrections. Students who need to make corrections or who choose to make additions or changes to their FAFSA forms should return to StudentAid.gov to complete those updates. Schools and states should typically receive a new ISIR transaction, and students should typically be able to review their updated FAFSA Submission Summary within 1 to 3 days of the applicant’s submission of a correction.
In the coming days, the Department will be emailing all applicants and their contributors who have processed applications in an “Action Required” status. Emails will be sent to all applicants who require the most common corrections such as missing signatures or consent and approval to access federal tax data, students who indicated they were only interested in unsubsidized loans, and applicants who have started, but not completed their FAFSA form submission. For most applicants and contributors, this process should only take a few minutes.
What to Expect on the 2024-25 FAFSA
Updated Need Analysis Formula
You may be familiar with the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) as a result of the FAFSA form. The EFC will be replaced with the Student Aid Index (SAI). The Student Aid Index (SAI) is an eligibility index number that a school uses to determine how much federal student aid you would receive if you attended. This number results from the information that you provide on your FAFSA form. We will use this to evaluate resources available to help cover educational expenses and to award need-based financial aid.
Expanded Access to Federal Student Aid
The FASFA Simplification Act will grant Federal Pell Grants to more students. The University of Hartford will evaluate how institutional need-based grant funding is awarded as well.
Streamlined FAFSA Form
The “new” FAFSA will mandate that families use federal tax information directly from the federal IRS to complete the required financial information portions of the form. This will help ensure accuracy in SAI and Federal Pell grant awards. All students and contributors must provide consent and approval to have their federal tax information transferred directly into the FAFSA form via direct data exchange with the IRS.
Key Updates to the FAFSA
Removal of the number of family members in college from the eligibility calculation which may result in reduced need-based eligibility for current students with siblings in college.
With the change to use the Student Aid Index (SAI) to need-based financial aid, there is a possibility for an SAI to be a negative number, with a minimum SAI of -1,500 instead of zero. The lower the SAI the more need the family demonstrates.
The number of questions on the FAFSA has decreased overall.
Who will need to contribute information on the FAFSA form will be determined when the student completes their portion. If your information is required to complete the FAFSA you will receive an email notification to complete your portion.
The FAFSA will not be complete until all contributors complete their portion of the FAFSA form.
Contributors may be the student, the student's spouse, biological or adoptive parent, and the spouse of the remarried parent list on the FAFSA- the step parent.
For divorced or separated parents, income and assets are reported for the parent who provides the most financial support over the 12 months prior to filing the FAFSA even if the student does not live with that parent or lives with the other parent. The parent of record is self-reported on the FAFSA by the student/parent.
Everyone contributing to the FAFSA form online must have their own StudentAid.gov account. Each contributor, including the student, will access their account with their own FSA ID (account username and password). If you have completed the FAFSA before but are unsure of your FSA ID, you may retrieve from the log in screen by clicking forgot username or forgot password.
Financial Aid 101
We enjoyed the opportunity to connect with many students at our virtual event, Financial Aid 101. As a resource, we recorded the presentation and have linked it below for you to refer to as you continue to navigate the financial aid process.