Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

The FAFSA Simplification Act represents a significant overhaul of the process and systems used to award federal student aid starting with the 2024-2025 award year.

These changes are meant to create a better user experience by streamlining and simplifying the process for students and families to complete the FAFSA form.

The 2025–2026 FAFSA and CASFA forms are available now for the award year that runs from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026.

The 2026–2027 FAFSA form will officially open on October 1, 2025, for the award year that runs from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027. Learn how to prepare for and stay informed about the FAFSA launch.

The 2026-2027 CASFA will also be available at the same time.

A Student Aid Account also referred to as an FSA ID, is your account username and password. All FAFSA Contributors (students, parents, student-spouses) will be required to have a Student Aid Account in order to electronically sign and submit the form. 

This includes eligible non-citizen student and contributors without Social Security Numbers (SSN). 

Student Aid Accounts can be created online at studentaid.gov. 

Contributors are individuals, such as a parent or spouse, that may be required to provide information on an applicant’s FAFSA depending on the applicant’s dependency or marital status.

Dependent students will have a built in "parent wizard tool"  to help identify which parents to include.

Information required to invite a contributor must match the verified contributor information on their Student Aid Account (FSA ID) exactly.

Information needed includes: 

• Contributor's legal name (first and last) 
• Date of Birth (month, date and year) 
• Social Security Number
  • For contributors without an SSN Check the box for "My contributor does not have an SSN"
• Email Address
• Physical Address

Once invited, Contributors will be sent an email from FAFSA asking them to log in and continue the FAFSA Application Process. 

All FAFSA Contributors will be required to create a Student Aid Account (FSA ID) username and password.

All Contributors to the FAFSA must consent to have their Federal Tax Information (FTI) shared between the IRS and the FAFSA and back to the colleges a student hopes to attend.

If any contributors, including student, refuse to give consent on the FAFSA form, the FAFSA will not be processed and the student won't be eligible for federal and state financial aid.

Being a contributor does NOT mean that the contributor will be financially responsible for the student's education. It is a consent to have their information included in the FAFSA. 

For students who are in contact with their parents and NOT facing any unusual circumstances and their parent refuses to consent to their information being used on the FAFSA will be given an option to complete the FAFSA with the understanding their financial aid eligibility will only include Direct Unsubsidized Loans and will not be eligible for grants.

The Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) has been replaced by the Student Aid Index (SAI). The SAI is a new way to determine aid eligibility.

Unlike EFC, SAI can be a negative number as low as -1500. 

For the 2025-2026 aid year, we are processing these records in the order they were received.

Continuing students will have their official financial aid offer emailed to their CMU Email account. 

2026-2027 First Time students will have their official financial aid offer emailed to their CMU Email account along with a physical letter mailed to their permanent address. 

When available, all students will be able to view their official financial aid offers by logging into MAVzone.  This is also where students will accept, modify, or decline their specific types of financial aid. 

The Department of Education has emailed applicants who have had their FAFSA in an "Action Required" status regarding common corrections. For most applicants this process should only take a few minutes. 

1. Log in using your user name and password at studentaid.gov
2. Follow the guidance emailed on making the appropriate correction
   • You can also update any other information that needs corrected at this time

Corrected FAFSAs will be processed in the order they are received. 

To make a correction:

1. Log in using your user name and password at studentaid.gov
2. Correct the any information that you incorrectly entered in the initial application. 
   • You can also update any other information that needs corrected at this time

Corrected FAFSAs will be processed in the order they are received.