My FAFSA reflects that I have provisional independent status, what does that mean?

MIT is now receiving FAFSA information from the Department of Education. We are awaiting additional updates from the DOE before we can begin reviewing FAFSAs and hope to do so in May.

We will reach out to you directly if you;

• received a Pell Grant and the amount changed based upon your FAFSA, or
• need to submit verification documents to MIT.

But don’t worry—both situations are rare! We do not anticipate changes to financial aid awards and will email you directly if we make any adjustments to your award.

We know there are a few issues that students and families are having as they attempt to fill out the FAFSA, which may not allow them to complete it at this time. We understand—and any delays in filling out your FAFSA will not impact your financial aid. However, you should still try to complete it as soon as you are able to do so. You can check this resource page or the known issues page on the Federal Student Aid site.

If your FAFSA appears as “In review” (meaning it has not been processed) in your studentaid.gov account, no corrections can be made until it is processed. You will receive an email once it is fully processed, letting you know that your FAFSA information has been sent to MIT.

Your FAFSA will appear as “In review” (meaning it has not been processed) in your studentaid.gov account and no corrections can be made until it is processed. You will receive an email once it is fully processed, letting you know that your FAFSA information has been sent to MIT.

MIT is now receiving FAFSA information from the Department of Education. We are awaiting additional updates from the DOE before we can begin reviewing FAFSAs and hope to do so in May.

Congress recently passed laws to simplify the completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Applying for federal aid will now be easier for students and families as a result of a more streamlined application process and reduced barriers intended to expand the Federal Pell Grant to more students. Learn more about the FAFSA Simplification Act.

The application for the 2024–2025 FAFSA is designed to be easier to fill out with a substantial reduction in questions. Some key changes:

• The federal Pell Grant eligibility will expand to more students as determined by family size and income
• Both students and parents must create an FSA ID and provide consent for the FAFSA to retrieve their tax information from the IRS through the Direct Data Exchange (DDX)
• In the case of divorced or separated parents, the parent who provided the most financial support in the last calendar year must complete the application
• The number of children in college at the same time will no longer affect eligibility for federal need-based aid

You can get a sense of how much federal student aid you may be eligible for, with the Federal Student Aid Estimator. It takes about 10 minutes, and you can do this before filling out the FAFSA.

The 2024–2025 FAFSA is now available. All students eligible for federal aid should submit it as soon as they are able. If we anticipate that you are eligible for federal aid it will be estimated on your financial aid award. If you would like to apply for financial aid for the 2024–2025 academic year, you are still able to submit an application.

The Student Aid Index (SAI) on the 2024–2025 FAFSA is replacing the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Like the EFC, the SAI is a number that is used to determine how much federal student aid you are eligible to receive. The SAI is determined by the information that you and your family provide on the FAFSA and your SAI may be a negative number as low as -1,500.

You can get a sense of how much federal student aid you may be eligible for, with the Federal Student Aid Estimator. It takes about 10 minutes, and you can do this before filling out the FAFSA.

Students with a negative or 0 SAI are eligible for the maximum Federal Pell Grant. The difference is that a negative SAI indicates that a student has a higher need than a student with 0 SAI. This information can be used to prioritize how other grants with limited funding are distributed to students. The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant is an example of where a negative SAI may be considered. However, schools cannot award more financial aid than the total cost of attendance, so a negative SAI does not increase the amount of aid that students receive.

You can get a sense of how much federal student aid you may be eligible for, with the Federal Student Aid Estimator. It takes about 10 minutes, and you can do this before filling out the FAFSA.

The FAFSA determines your eligibility for federal and state financial aid, including Pell Grants, Federal Work Study and federal loans. While the 2024–2025 FAFSA may change your federal aid eligibility, your aid from MIT will not change based on the new FAFSA. MIT will continue meet 100% of demonstrated need for all our undergraduates. You can get a sense of how much federal student aid you may be eligible for, with the Federal Student Aid Estimator. It takes about 10 minutes, and you can do this before filling out the FAFSA.

If you have specific questions about your financial aid, or if you need our help navigating a complicated situation, we recommend that you reach out to your financial aid counselor directly.

MIT uses the CSS Profile to determine need-based aid. We will continue to count siblings in college, so you will likely not experience any changes. If you were eligible for a Pell Grant in the past and it was reduced due to FAFSA Simplification, we will replace this with a grant to meet 100% of demonstrated need. You can get a sense of how much federal student aid you may be eligible for, with the Federal Student Aid Estimator. It takes about 10 minutes, and you can do this before filling out the FAFSA.