Paper Summary of Enhancements

Summary of Enhancements to the

2020-2021 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) for 30-day public comment

Section 1: In this section, we’ve described changes to the 2020-2021 PDF FAFSA resulting from public comments. Some of these changes also impact fafsa.gov and myFAFSA.

Page 1

• Headings- Revised headings to: Apply by the Deadlines, Use Your Tax Return, Fill Out the FAFSA Form and Mail Your FAFSA Form.

• Apply by the Deadlines- Changed “high school guidance counselor” to “high school counselor”.

• State deadline- Revised Illinois state deadline to “Refer to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission’s website for Monetary Award Program (MAP) renewal deadline. ^ $”

• Let’s Get Started - Replaced the words “application form” with “FAFSA form”

• Footer- Increased font size of the trademark notice. “The Federal Student Aid logo and FAFSA are registered trademarks of Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education.”

Page 2

• Information on the Privacy Act and use of your Social Security Number- Combined question numbers 32-37 and 38-58 to be listed as 32-58.

Page 3

• Header- Added application year

Page 4

• Header- Added application year

• Question 29 – Edited the following responses to add text in parentheses:

  • 1st yr. college graduate/professional (MBA, MD, PhD, etc.)

  • Continuing graduate/professional or beyond (MBA, MD, PhD, etc.)

• Question 30 – Edited the question to add “college” and response to include text in parentheses:

  • What college degree or certificate will you be working on when you begin the 2020-2021 school year?

  • College graduate/professional degree (MBA, MD, PhD, etc.)

• Question 35 – Revised the question to “Did (or will) you file Schedule 1 with your 2018 tax return? Answer “No” if you did not file Schedule 1 or only filed it to report an Alaska Permanent Fund dividend. See Notes page 9 for other exceptions.”

• Question 37- Revised instructions to include “If negative, enter a zero here.”

Page 5

• Header- Added application year

• Question 44h- Revised instructions to include “untaxed foreign income”.

Page 6

• Header- Added application year

Page 7

• Header- Added application year

• Question 83 – Revised the question to, “Did (or will) your parents file Schedule 1 with their 2018 tax return? Answer “No” if they did not file Schedule 1 or only filed it to report an Alaska Permanent Fund dividend. See Notes page 9 for other exceptions.”

• Question 85- Revised instructions to include “If negative, enter a zero here.”

• Question 92h- Revised instructions to include “untaxed foreign income”.

Page 8

• Header: Added application year

• Step Six instructions- Revised instructions to “… You can find the school codes at fafsa.ed.gov/spa/fsc or by calling 1-800-433-3243…”.

Page 9

• Header- Added application year

• Notes for question 8- “Do not enter an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) in the Social Security Number field.”

• Notes for questions 41/42/44i and 89/90- Updated language to exclude The Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts from assets.

• Notes for questions 35 (page 4) and 82 (page 6)- Updated notes to the language below:

Many people only need to file IRS Form 1040 and no schedules.  Answer “No” if you did not file a Schedule 1 or only filed it to report one or more of the following six additions or adjustments to income:

1. Capital gain (line 13 – may not be less than zero)

2. Unemployment compensation (line 19)

3. Other income to report an Alaska Permanent Fund dividend (line 21 – may not be less than zero)

4. Educator expenses (line 23)

5. IRA deduction (line 32)

6. Student loan interest deduction (line 33)

If you filed a Schedule 1 and reported additional income or adjustments to income on any lines other than or in addition to the six exceptions shown above, you must answer “Yes.”   

Page 10

• Header- Added application year

Student Aid Report (SAR)-

Page 1-

Federal Student Aid Eligibility- Revised the following sentence to “For more information about the EFC, grants, scholarships, work-study, loans and other sources of aid, go to StudentAid.gov.”

Section 2: 2020-2021 Enhancements to the PDF FAFSA communicated in the Federal Register posted April 3, 2019

Global Changes

• We’ve incremented date and year references.

IRS 2018 Tax form changes. In January 2019, the IRS made changes to the forms they provide to taxpayers to file their 2018 taxes. Since the 2020-21 FAFSA form requires income information from the 2018 tax year, adjustments will be made to the FAFSA to accommodate the new law.

FAFSA Modifications:

• Eliminated 1040A/1040EZ response option for the type of tax return questions

• “Were you eligible to file a 1040A or 1040EZ?” was removed and replaced with “Did (or will) you file a Schedule 1 with your 2018 tax return?” for both the student and parent

• Removed exemption questions

• The Untaxed portions of IRA distributions questions were modified to include untaxed portions of pensions.

• Eliminated untaxed portions of pension questions

• Updated tax line references

Question numbers, references to question numbers, and the note section were updated to account for the removal of the exemptions and untaxed portions of pensions questions.

Student Aid Report (SAR) & Student Aid Report Acknowledgement (SAR Ack.)

The SAR & SAR Ack. were updated to align with changes made to the PDF FAFSA. Changes in the drafts are highlighted in yellow for easy identification.

We added the Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship indicator to the For Financial Aid Office Use Only section of the SAR to display the applicant’s eligibility.

Page 1

• We’ve incremented the year references in Column 2.

Page 4

• Question 33 – Removed “IRS 1040A or 1040 EZ” response

• Question 33- Updated foreign tax return response to include references to “IRS 1040NR and IRS 1040NR-EZ”

• Question 35 – Replaced with “Did (or will) you file a Schedule 1 with your 2018 tax return? See Notes page 9.”

• Question 36 – Revised the tax line reference to: “IRS Form 1040—Line 7.”

• Question 37 – Revised the tax line reference to: “IRS Form 1040—line 13 minus Schedule 2 line 46.”

• Deleted exemption question. Renumbered remaining questions on the form.

• Questions 38 and 39 – Updated tax form references to: “IRS Form 1040—line 1 + Schedule 1, lines 12 + 18 + IRS Schedule K-1 (Form 1065) Box 14 (Code A).”

Page 5

• Question 43a – Updated the tax line reference to: “IRS Form 1040 Schedule 3—line 50.”

• Question 44b– Updated the tax line reference to: “IRS Form 1040 Schedule 1—line 28 + line 32.”

• Question 44d– Updated the tax line reference to: “IRS Form 1040—line 2a.”

• Question 44e – Updated the untaxed portions of IRA distribution question to include pensions, and the corresponding tax line reference to: “IRS Form 1040—line 4a minus line 4b.”

  • “Untaxed portions of IRA distributions and pensions from IRS Form 1040—line 4a minus line 4b. Exclude rollovers. If negative, enter a zero here.”

• Question 44h– Updated the tax line reference to: “IRS Form 1040 Schedule 1—line 25.”

Page 6

• Question 80 – Removed “IRS 1040A or 1040 EZ” response

• Question 80- Updated foreign tax return response to include references to “IRS 1040NR and IRS 1040NR-EZ”

• Question 82– Replaced with “Did (or will) your parents file a Schedule 1 with their 2018 tax return? See Notes page 9.”

Page 7

• Question 84 – Revised the tax line reference to: “IRS Form 1040—Line 7.”

• Question 85 – Revised the tax line reference to: “IRS Form 1040—line 13 minus Schedule 2 line 46.”

• Deleted exemption question.

• Questions 86 and 87 – Updated tax form references to: “IRS Form 1040—line 1 + Schedule 1, lines 12 + 18 + IRS Schedule K-1 (Form 1065) Box 14 (Code A).”

• Question 91a – Updated the tax line reference to: “IRS Form 1040 Schedule 3—line 50.”

• Question 92b– Updated the tax line reference to: “IRS Form 1040 Schedule 1—line 28 + line 32.”

• Question 92d – Updated the tax line reference to: “IRS Form 1040— line 2a.”

• Question 92e – Updated the Untaxed portions of IRA distribution question to include pensions, and the corresponding tax line reference to: “IRS Form 1040—line 4a minus line 4b”.

  • “Untaxed portions of IRA distributions and pensions from IRS Form 1040—line 4a minus line 4b. Exclude rollovers. If negative, enter a zero here.”

• Question 92h– Updated the question references in the text to “…92a through 92g…”

• Question 92h – Updated the tax line reference to: “IRS Form 1040 Schedule 1—line 25.”

Pages 9 and 10

• Updated all question number references throughout the help.

• Notes for question 33 (page 4 and 80 page 6)– Updated the first sentence to, “…return, IRS 1040NR or IRS 1040NR-EZ, or a tax…”

• Notes for questions 35 (page 4) and 82 (page 6) Updated the notes to read: “In general, many people only need to file Form 1040 and no schedules. Schedule 1 is used to report additional income or adjustments to income that cannot be entered directly on Form 1040.”

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