FAFSA Information

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is your application for financial aid at Arkansas Tech University. The FAFSA has minor changes each year, but the biggest changes in several decades were implemented in 2024-25 via the FAFSA Simplification Act.

The FAFSA Simplification Act expands eligibility for federal financial aid, streamlines the financial aid application process for students and families, improves the user experience when completing the form, and reduces barriers to completion for certain student populations. There is no income cut-off to qualify for federal student aid, and many factors- such as the size of your family and your year in school- are taken into account to determine your Financial Aid Eligibility.

Federal Aid Eligibility includes that you:

• have a financial need for need-based aid,
• are a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen, and
• are enrolled in an eligible degree or certificate program at an eligible college or career/trade school.

The 2025-26 & 2026-27 FAFSAs are available now at https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa.  Note: the 2025-26 FAFSA is used for Fall 2025 through Summer 2026.  The 2026-27 FAFSA is used for Fall 2026-Summer 2027.

Click here for a link to videos provided by Federal Student Aid to assist you in completing the form.

We understand that the financial aid process can be confusing and complex, and we are here to help. You may contact the Arkansas Tech Ozark campus Financial Aid Office by phone at 479-667-3111, email at ozark.finaid@atu.edu, or in-person in Student Services and Conference Center if you have any questions or need help completing the FAFSA.

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FAFSA FAQS

Updated: How to correct or update your FAFSA form

Although most questions should be answered as of the day you submit the FAFSA, sometimes mistakes happen, or changes must be made.  If you have questions about updating or changing the information you reported on your FAFSA form, click here. 

What did not change?

There have been many changes to the FAFSA in the last few years, but the following list has not changed or has had only minor changes.

• You have to fill out the FAFSA each year, and you must be a citizen or eligible non-citizen.
• Questions about the applicant's sex, race, and ethnicity have no impact on eligibility and are used solely for statistical purposes.
• Dependency status questions to determine whether you need your parents' information have not changed.
• You still report tax and income using the prior-prior year's information (2 years ago). If you or your family had a significant event resulting in a reduction of income due to extenuating circumstances, you can request a special circumstances review.
• Federal educational loan requirements are the same.
• You still have to begin and remain in attendance through the 100% reduction of tuition & fees period of each term to receive the aid, and you must be making Satisfactory Academic Progress to keep getting your aid.
  
  

What are some new terms on the FAFSA?

Contributor

A contributor is anyone required to provide consent and approval for obtaining federal tax information needed to complete a student's FAFSA. If applicable, it may include:

• Student
• Student's spouse
• Parent, biological or adopted
• Parent's spouse (stepparent) 

What must contributors provide?

• Name 
• Date of birth 
• Social Security number 
• Email address 
• Prior-Prior Year (2023 for the 2025-26 FAFSA & 2024 for the 2026-27 FAFSA) Federal Tax Return and proof of untaxed income

Who is not a contributor?

The following are NOT contributors, unless they have legally adopted you:

• Grandparents
• Foster Parents
• Legal Guardians
• Brothers or sisters
• Aunts or uncles
  If you have questions about who is a contributor on your FAFSA, you can see the video here, or contact our office for more information.

How do contributors complete the FAFSA?

• Receive an email informing you that you've been identified by the student as a contributor. 
• Create a Federal Student Aid (FSA ID) account if you don't already have one.  Remember, this must use a different email address than your student's.
• Log in to your account using your (Contributor's) FSA ID account username and password.
• Review information about completing your section of the FAFSA form. 
• Provide the required information on the FAFSA form, sign, and submit. 

What if my contributor won't provide their information?

Being a contributor does not imply financial responsibility. However, if a required contributor refuses to provide their information, the FAFSA form will be incomplete, and the student will become ineligible for federal student aid. Contact our office for additional information.

Consent 

The Future Act requires all contributors on the FAFSA to provide consent to share their tax information with the IRS. This consent is necessary for the Department of Education to request federal tax information from the IRS and to use that information in the federal student aid application process. 

What happens if I don't provide consent?

If you, as a student, or a spouse or parent, as a contributor, don't provide consent on the FAFSA, the student will not be eligible for any federal aid. 

What happens after a contributor or I provide consent on the FAFSA?

Providing consent allows the Department of Education to use your name and social security number to match with the IRS, so the IRS may share your tax information with the Department of Education to determine a student's eligibility for federal student aid. 

What if I, or my contributor, did not file a federal tax return? Must we still grant consent?

Yes, every contributor still needs to provide consent on the FAFSA, so the IRS can confirm to Federal Student Aid (FSA) that you, your parents, or your spouse didn't file taxes. 

 Federal tax information (FTI)

By signing your FAFSA, you and your contributors consent to transfer your Federal Tax Information (FTI) directly from the IRS to the FAFSA using direct data exchange.

Can I opt to use the data retrieval tool (DRT) instead of a direct transfer?

No. Starting with the 2024-25 FAFSA, the DRT will no longer exist. Federal Student Aid (FSA) will now directly transfer Federal Tax Information (FTI) from the IRS into the FAFSA form as long as you have provided FSA with the consent to do so.

Can I or my contributor manually input our tax info on the FAFSA?

Yes, but you still need to provide consent. We strongly recommend that you choose FAFSA to report your income from IRS tax returns. 

Student aid Index (SAI)

The Student Aid Index (SAI) replaces the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) in determining eligibility for need-based financial aid. It is the measure of the student's financial need and is calculated using the student's and contributor(s) (if applicable) information reported on the FAFSA. The main difference between the SAI and the EFC is that the SAI does not consider the number of family members in college.

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2026-27 FAFSA Processing timeline

Date	Action Item
October 1, 2025	FAFSA opens for 2026-27 aid year
October 2025	Tech Financial Aid Office starts receiving FAFSAs from Federal Student Aid
November 2025	Tech Financial Aid starts sending information requests to students' emails.
March 2026	Tech Financial Aid will begin sending out federal aid award offer emails.
April 2026	Tech Financial Aid will begin sending out federal aid award offer emails to returning and transfer students.