FSA Summary of Enhancements to the 2016 and 2017 FAFSA

Summary of Enhancements to the

2016-2017 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®)

The U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Federal Student Aid are dedicated to continuously improving the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and associated applicant products.

I. Significant enhancements to the 2016-2017 FAFSA on the Web.

The Department has made the following changes to the “School Selection Summary” page:

• Removed “respectively” from the second paragraph.

• Changed the third paragraph to:

“For federal student aid purposes, it does not matter in what order you list your selected schools. However, placing schools that are located in your state of legal residence first may help you obtain state aid. Find more information on your state’s preferences for listing schools <link>here</link>.”

“here” links to a page on StudentAid.gov where students can find their state’s preference for ordering schools.

Updated the Internal Revenue Service Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT) text on the FAFSA on the Web “Student Finances 1” and “Student Finances – Corrections” pages to read:

To determine if you can use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to transfer your tax return information from the IRS into your FAFSA, <bold>answer the following question(s):</bold>

And on the “Parent Finances 1” and “Parent Finances – Corrections” pages to read:

To determine if you, <the parents/ the mother/the father> [depending on the parent(‘s’) marital status], can use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to transfer your tax return information from the IRS into the FAFSA, <bold>answer the following question(s):</bold>

II. Recommended enhancements to the 2015-2016 FAFSA form that have been applied to the 2016-2017 FAFSA form.

On the paper FAFSA, moved page 2 to 9, 9 to 10, and 10 to 2. As a result of moving the notes pages, all references to these pages were updated to reflect the new page numbers.

Updated IRS Form 1040 and 1040A Tax Line References in Questions 37and 86 text to “Enter […] income tax for 2015. Income tax amount is on IRS Form 1040—line 56 minus line 46; 1040A—line 28 minus line 36; or 1040EZ—line 10.”

Amended the informational text for Step 6 to read: “Enter the six-digit federal school code and your housing plans for each college or school you wish to receive your FAFSA information. You can find the school codes at www.fafsa.gov or by calling 1-800-433-3243. If you cannot obtain a code, write in the complete name, address, city and state of the college. All of the information you included on your FAFSA, with the exception of the list of colleges, will be sent to each of the colleges you listed. In addition, all of your FAFSA information, including the list of colleges, will be sent to your state student grant agency. For federal student aid purposes, it does not matter in what order you list your selected schools. However, placing schools that are located in your state of legal residence first may help you obtain state aid. Check with your state grant agency for more information. To find out how to have more colleges receive your FAFSA information, read What is the FAFSA? on page 2.”

III. These enhancements to the 2016-2017 FAFSA form include resolution to the public comment period announced in the Federal Register on August 12, 2015.

Page 1
In the section labeled “Filling Out the FAFSA,” added “or other unusual circumstances (such as high unreimbursed medical or dental expenses)” after “(such as loss of employment)” in the first sentence.
In the section labeled “Let’s Get Started!” inserted “on pages 9 and 10” after “Refer to the notes...”
Added state deadline information for Nevada, Ohio and Texas. Nevada: Silver State Opportunity Grant - as soon as possible after January 1, 2016. $All other aid - Contact your financial aid administrator.* Ohio:  October 1, 2016 (date received) Texas: March 15, 2016 (date received) Added a new symbol and definition to the bottom of the state deadline table: $ Awards made until funds are depleted.
Page 2
Replaced “aid” with “student financial aid” in the following section headings to read: How much student financial aid will I receive? When will I receive the student financial aid? Where can I receive more information on student financial aid?
In the section labeled, “How much student financial aid will I receive?” revised the sentence that defines financial need to read: “Financial need is the difference between the cost of attendance (which can include living expenses) as determined by your college, and your EFC.”
In the section labeled “How can I have more colleges receive my FAFSA information?” the numbered list has been replaced with a bulleted list.
In the last paragraph of that same section, replaced the last sentence with “If there are ten school codes on your record, each new code will need to replace one of the school codes listed.”
In the section labeled “Where can I receive more information on student financial aid?” replaced “religious organizations” with “faith-based organizations” in the last paragraph.
Page 3
Question 23	Replaced the text “(such as grants, loans or work-study)” with “(such as grants, work-study or loans)” so that the options are listed in preference order (e.g., loans need to be repaid, while grants and work-study do not).
Question 26	Revised the question to:  What will your high school completion status be when you begin college in the 2016-2017 school year?
Page 4
Question 28	Revised the question to: Will you have your first bachelor’s degree before you begin the 2016 -2017 school year?
Question 29	Revised the question to: What will your grade level be when you begin the 2016-2017 school year?
Question 30	Revised the question to: What degree or certificate will you be working on when you begin the 2016-2017 school year?
Page 5
Question 45j	Inserted “or other person” after “parent”.
Question 55	Changed the label to “Does someone other than your parent or stepparent have legal guardianship of you, as determined by a court in your state of legal residence?”
Page 6
	At the top of the page, replaced “Health professions students” with “Health professions and law school students,” as the use of FAFSA data is also now common in many law schools.
	In the introductory text for Step Four, replaced “aunts and uncles” with “aunts, uncles and siblings”.
Questions 59 and 60	Included the URL for the Reporting Parental Information page on StudentAid.gov as a resource in the Step Four text that precedes Questions 59 and 60.
Question 73	In the third bullet, inserted “even if they do not live with your parents” after “other children”.
Page 7
	In the text that precedes questions 88 and 89, added instruction: “Report the information for the parent listed in questions 61-64 in question 88 and the information for the parent listed in questions 65-68 in question 89.”
Question 90	Inserted “Don’t include student financial aid.” at the end of the question.
Page 8
Question 95	In the second bullet, inserted “even if they do not live with you” before “and”.
Question 96	Inserted “Do not include family members who are in U.S. military service academies.”
Page 9
Deleted the last sentence in the Notes for questions 16 and 17 (page 3) to remove reference to DOMA.
Reworded the last sentence of the Notes for questions 33 (page 4) and 81 (page 6) as follows: “If you filed a foreign return, convert all monetary units to U.S. dollars, using the published exchange rate in effect for the date nearest to today’s date.  To view the daily exchange rates, go to www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h10/current.
Changed the first sentence of the section labeled “Notes for questions 42 and 43 (page 4), 45j (page 5), and 91 and 92 (page 7)” to: “Net worth means the current value, as of today, of investments, businesses and/or investment farms, minus debts related to those same investments, businesses and/or investment farms.”
Page 10
Modified the third paragraph in the section labeled “Notes for questions 54 and 55 (page 5)” to read: Answer “No” if you are still a minor and the court decision is no longer in effect or the court decision was not in effect at the time you became an adult. Also answer “No” and contact your school if custody was awarded by the courts and the court papers say “custody” (not “guardianship”).
In the section labeled “Notes for questions 56-58 (page 5)”, second to last paragraph, inserted “college” before “financial aid office” to distinguish it from a (private or non-public) secondary school financial aid office.
Deleted the second sentence in the Notes for Step Four, questions 59-94 (pages 6 and 7) to remove reference to DOMA.
Bolded the last sentence in bullet 4 under “Notes for Step four, questions 59-94 (pages 6 and 7”): If this parent is remarried as of today, answer the questions about that parent and your stepparent.
Replaced the fifth bullet in the section labeled “Notes for questions 84 (page 6) and 102 (page 8)” with “is the spouse of an active duty member of the Armed Forces and is unemployed or underemployed, and is experiencing difficulty in obtaining or upgrading employment; or”

IV. These enhancements are to both the student and parent sections of the 2016-2017 FAFSA form.

Student Question	Parent Question
Added language to the text preceding Questions 39 and 40 referencing the “tax return listed in question 33:” to improve clarity.	Added language to the text preceding Questions 88 and 89 referencing the “tax return listed in question 81:” to improve clarity.
In Question 42, deleted “Net worth means current value minus debt.”	In Question 91, deleted “Net worth means current value minus debt.”
In Question 44d, replaced “student” with “college”.	In Question 93d, replaced “student” with “college”.
In Question 45i, inserted “benefits” after “disability”	In Question 94i, inserted “benefits” after “disability”
In Question 45i, changed “Workforce Investment Act” to “Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act”	In Question 94i, changed “Workforce Investment Act” to “Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act”

1/24/2021