The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) was signed into law on July 4, 2025 and made many significant changes to federal student aid. Please to review Frequently Asked Questions about these changes.

A notable terminology update within the new FAFSA is the replacement of the term Expected Family Contribution (EFC) with the Student Aid Index (SAI). This name more accurately describes the number used to determine federal and institutional need-based aid eligibility. Unlike the EFC, the SAI may be a negative number down to -1500 and the number in college is not part of the SAI calculation.

Important: Student aid eligibility is based on the following formula: Cost of Attendance (COA) – Student Aid Index (SAI) – Other Financial Assistance (OFA) = Need 
*The Student Aid Index (SAI) is replacing Expected Family Contribution (EFC).

Due to the ongoing updates and revisions by the Department of Education, we recommend new 1st time students in the College for Women use our Net Price Calculator to assist you in calculating your Financial Aid.

All other students should use the . Please note at this time the Department of Education's tool doesn’t reflect the changes—accounting for inflation—to the SAI calculation approved in early 2024. For most students, this tool will provide a close estimate of their federal student aid. The SAI estimate will be updated with the new calculation in spring 2024.

A student and their contributor(s) would each need to create their own FSA ID/account. This is required for everyone submitting a FAFSA.

To create an FSA ID/account visit .

Providing consent and approval on the 2024–25 FAFSA is a requirement for federal student aid eligibility. When students and contributors provide consent and approval on the FAFSA form, they agree to:

• Share their personally identifiable information provided on the form with the IRS
• Have their federal tax information transferred directly into the form
• Allow the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to use the information to determine their eligibility for federal student aid
• Allow DOE to share their federal tax information with schools and state higher education agencies

If you make a mistake when submitting your FAFSA form—for instance, if you submit your form without the required contributor information or without your signature—don't worry. You’ll be able to correct the error as soon as your form is processed in the first half of March.

Parents of dependent students should report as parental assets only the value of college savings plans designated for the dependent student (not those designated for other children), regardless of whether the account holder is the parent or the dependent student.

Independent students should report education savings accounts as their own assets.

Yes, an incomplete FAFSA will be deleted after 45 days of inactivity. Students and contributors should complete and sign the application within that time frame.

You will receive an email informing you that your FAFSA form has been fully processed and your FAFSA information has been sent to the schools you listed on your form.

You can check the status of your 2024–25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by

1. logging in to the site and
2. finding your application status in the “Status Center” under “My Activity”

The status of your 2024-2025 FAFSA will be one of the following:

• Draft: Your section of the FAFSA is incomplete.
• In Progress: You provided your consent, approval, and signature to your section of the FAFSA, but the form has not been submitted yet.
• In Review: Your FAFSA was submitted but hasn’t been processed yet.
• Action Required: You are missing your consent and approval or signature or the FAFSA was processed, but a correction is required.
• Processed: Your application was processed successfully. No further action is needed.
• Closed: Your FAFSA was never submitted and can no longer be submitted because the federal FAFSA deadline passed.

Note: If you submitted a paper 2024–25 FAFSA, you can check the status of your form once we process it (after online forms are processed in the first half of March).

KatePay is the online payment system used by ��ݮ��Ƶ for managing student accounts, including tuition payments, deposits, and refunds. Students can access their accounts to view bills, set up electronic refunds, and monitor their financial aid status.