Here are the major takeaways:

• The FAFSA is still scheduled to be released some time in December. The exact date has not been released yet.
• Everyone with a Social Security number or Permanent Resident card who will be contributing their information to a FAFSA (students, student spouses, one or two parents, or possibly step-parents*) should create an account at StudentAid.gov, where they'll set up a username and password, called a Federal Student Aid ID, or FSA ID. Those who have created an FSA ID for a previous FAFSA can continue to use their existing FSA ID.
• An FSA ID must be matched and verified with the Social Security Administration before it can be used to begin a FAFSA; this process takes up to 2-3 days.
• Therefore, we urge all FAFSA contributors to create their accounts and FSA IDs soon - it's important to have them created by the end of November. They can even be created today at https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch.
• Each FAFSA contributor will be required to give consent to have their 2022 tax information transferred directly to their FAFSA through the Direct Data Exchange (DDX), even if they did not file a tax return that year. The IRS will only transmit information that is needed to determine a student's eligibility for federal financial aid and will not share this information with any other party. If a contributor doesn't give consent, the student will not be eligible for federal financial aid.
• Each FAFSA contributor will answer questions that pertain only to them. Parents or other contributors won't be able to see the student's answers.
• The Student Aid Index, or SAI (formerly the Expected Family Contribution, or EFC) can be from negative 1,500 to 999,999. A negative SAI will not make the student eligible for a larger Pell grant award.
• Students will now be able to list up to 20 colleges/career schools on their FAFSA.
• Families with income at or below $60,000 will not be required to report other assets.
• We are waiting for more guidance on how to calculate the net worth of a business or farm when reporting assets.
• Parents without Social Security numbers will be able to create FSA IDs, but not until the new process has been finalized. We expect to learn much more about this process in early November.
• If an incomplete FAFSA shows no activity on the account from any contributor within 45 days, the FAFSA will be deleted from the system, and the student will have to create another application if they still wish to apply for federal financial aid.