Posted Date:March 18, 2016
| Author: | Jeff Baker, Director, Policy Liaison and Implementation, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: Early FAFSA Electronic Announcement #4 - Determining FAFSA Prior-Prior Items
As noted in previous communications, beginning with the 2017-2018 FAFSA, students and their families will provide income and tax information from the tax year one year earlier than has been used in the past. Thus, the 2017-2018 FAFSA will collect information from 2015 and not from 2016. This applies to both student/spouse income information and, for dependent students, parental income information.
The following details which questions on the 2017-2018 FAFSA should be completed with tax year 2015 information (the prior-prior year) and which questions continue to be based on long-established timeframes
Prior-Prior Year Income-Related FAFSA Questions
The 2017-2018 FAFSA questions in the following table are to be completed with tax year 2015 information:
2017-2018 FAFSA Question Number(s) for Student (spouse) Parents | FAFSA Question | Timeframe |
Question 32 | Tax return status (already completed, will file, not going to file) | Tax year 2015 |
Question 33 | Type of tax return (1040, 1040A, 1040EZ, foreign return, Puerto Rico or other U.S. territory return) | Tax year 2015 |
Question 34 | Tax filing status (single, head of household, married filing jointly, married filing separately, qualifying widow, don’t know) | Tax year 2015 |
Question 35 | Eligible to file a 1040A or 1040EZ? | Tax year 2015 |
Question 36 | Adjusted gross income | Tax year 2015 |
Question 37 | U.S. taxes paid | Tax year 2015 |
Question 38 | Number of exemptions claimed | Tax year 2015 |
Question 39 Question 88 | Income earned from work – Student Income earned from work – Parent 1 | Tax year 2015 |
Question 44 | Exclusions from income | Tax year 2015 |
Question 45 | Untaxed income | Tax year 2015 |
EFC-Related Questions—Not Prior-Prior
The 2017-2018 FAFSA EFC related questions in the following table are not based on the prior-prior year and should be completed according to the timeframe shown.
2017-2018 FAFSA Question Number(s) for Student (spouse) Parents | FAFSA Question | Timeframe |
Question 102 | Dislocated Worker | As of date of FAFSA completion |
Question 95 | Number in Household | Projected for the award year |
Question 96 | Number in College | Projected for the award year |
Question 41 to 43 | Assets | As of date of FAFSA completion |
Question 97 to 101 | Receipt of certain means-tested benefits | Calendar years 2015 or 2016 |
We hope that the information in this Electronic Announcement is helpful and that institutions and others who advise students and families will use it in the development of their outreach materials.
Finally, as we announced in Early FAFSA Electronic Announcement #2 we have developed an "Early FAFSA" mailbox as a way for the community to contribute ideas and concerns that they believe we should consider for the 2017-2018 Early FAFSA. The email address of the mailbox is EarlyFAFSAFeedback@ed.gov. Although we will not be able to reply to individual messages, we will carefully review all messages received and where appropriate post them to our IFAP Early FAFSA page.