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Applying for Financial Aid

Applying for Financial Aid

changes to the 2024-2025 fafsa

The 2024-2025 FAFSA will not be available on October 1, as is tradition. The anticipated launch date of the 2024-2025 FAFSA will be in December 2023.

Why is the fafsa application changing?

Congress recently passed the FAFSA Simplification Act to streamline the financial aid process for students and families.

While in some cases, FAFSA Simplification could increase students' financial aid eligiblity, others may see a decrease in financial aid. Several important changes that can impact the application process and resulting financial aid offers for students are outlined below.

key changes

  • The new FAFSA will be easier to complete, with a reduced number of questions.
  • Federal Pell Grant eligibility is linked to family size and the federal poverty level, expanding eligibility to more students.
  • The Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) has been replaced by the Student Aid Index (SAI). Schools will use the SAI to determine eligibility for federal financial aid programs. MassArt will also use the SAI to determine financial need for need-based institutional grant aid, such as the MassArt Grant.
  • Unlike the EFC calculation, the SAI calculation will not take into consideration the number of family members in college. This may reduce need-based aid eligibilty for current students with siblings in college.
  • The guidance on which parent's income to report for students whose parents are separated or divorced has changed to the parent who provides the most financial support to the student, rather than the parent who lives at the student's primary residence.

The following information applies to students who are applying to, accepted to, or are currently enrolled in an undergraduate program, graduate program, or a certificate program.

How to Apply

You should apply for financial aid at the same time you apply for admission. Don't wait until you have been admitted to a program to apply! The only financial aid application that we require is the FAFSA – the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

MassArt's priority deadline for filing the FAFSA is March 1.

Review important financial aid deadlines

To Complete your Financial Aid Application:

  1. File a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon after October 1 as possible. MassArt’s federal school code is 002180 and should be included on the FAFSA application. 

    Students (and parents of dependent students) – be sure to apply for an FSA ID prior to starting the FAFSA. Your FSA ID will serve as your legal signature on all Federal Student Aid websites.
     
  2. New applicants to the college must be sure that your social security number is on file with the Admissions Office so that we may be able to retrieve your FAFSA.
     
  3. After you have completed the FAFSA, it takes 3-5 days for Federal Student Aid to review and process your application. Once complete, they will send you a copy of your Student Aid Report (SAR). Please review your Student Aid Report (SAR) to ensure that the information you submitted was accurate and complete. If you need to make any corrections, you can do so on the FAFSA website. MassArt will receive an electronic copy of your SAR, along with any corrections that you make, so long as MassArt's school code has been included on your FAFSA.
     
  4. Additional documents may be required for students who are selected for Verification by the federal government. If you are required to submit additional information, you will be notified by email and in Financial Aid Self Service by the Office of Student Financial Assistance at MassArt. The best way to submit documents to OSFA is to upload them in Financial Aid Self-Service.

Please note, all prospective undergraduate and graduate students who complete an admissions application will automatically be considered for institutional merit scholarships for which they are eligible. There is no separate application to apply for a merit scholarship at MassArt. Most merit scholarship decisions are released in the Admissions portal at the same time as the admissions decision letter. Full-tuition scholarship decisions for undergraduate students are made by a scholarship committee, and these decision letters will be released in March and April for accepted fall applicants.

Who is Eligible to Apply?

Any student applying to, accepted to, or enrolled in an undergraduate, graduate, or design certificate program is eligible to apply for financial aid. Review the general financial aid eligibility requirements.

Please note that only U.S. Citizens and Legal Permanent Residents are eligible to file the FAFSA. However, non-U.S. Citizens may apply for a private student loan with a U.S. citizen as a co-signer.

Continuing Education students who are not enrolled in a certificate program or degree program are not eligible for financial aid through the Office of Student Financial Assistance. For information about other financial resources, please see Professional and Continuing Education's financial resources. 

Next Steps 

The Office of Student Financial Assistance and the federal government will use the information you and your family provided on your FAFSA to determine your eligibility for financial assistance. 

Learn more about how financial assistance is determined.

financialaid@massart.edu • P: 617.879.7849 • F: 617.879.7880