Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
new Undergraduate Students
- Early Action Application Deadline: Nov. 15
- Priority Deposit Deadline: May 1
- Priority FAFSA Deadline: Feb. 15
CURRENT STUDENTs
- FAFSA Deadline: April 1
UHart's Federal school code is 001422
For the 2024–2025 academic year, there were changes made to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). These updates were a result of a federal law passed by Congress called the FAFSA Simplification Act. The goal of these changes was to expand access to federal student aid and provide a new FAFSA experience for students and families. We are closely monitoring the release of the 2025-26 FAFSA and hope to start releasing award letters soon after FAFSAs are released to schools.
The FAFSA is an important part of the financial aid process as it helps schools to determine what a student will receive for need-based financial aid.
The 2025-26 FAFSA is slated to release in early December 2024. The priority FAFSA completion deadline for the University of Hartford is February 15. Students that submit the FAFSA by the February 15 priority deadline and deposit to UHart by May 1, are eligible for a FAFSA Completion Incentive in the amount of $2,000*.
*The $2,000 FAFSA incentive may not be combined with other partial non-need-based award offers and will not be applied if the total financial aid award equals or exceeds full tuition.
More information about last year's updates to the FAFSA can be found below.
Questions?
Contact the Office of Student Financial Aid:
860.768.4296 or finaid@hartford.edu
The Office of Student Financial Aid is here to assist families in completing the FAFSA in person or via virtual appointment.
We also encourage you to attend our series of virtual webinars hosted throughout the year called Navigating Financial Aid. Our first event will be on on October 30 at 7 p.m.. Please join us for Navigating Financial Aid: Understanding the FAFSA and Basics of Aid. Register Now.
Key Updates Made to the 2024-2025 FAFSA
You may be familiar with the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) as a result of the FAFSA form. The EFC will be replaced with the Student Aid Index (SAI). The Student Aid Index (SAI) is an eligibility index number that a school uses to determine how much federal student aid you would receive if you attended. This number results from the information that you provide on your FAFSA form. We will use this to evaluate resources available to help cover educational expenses and to award need-based financial aid.
Returning Students: Due to potential changes to the need analysis criteria, you may see an adjustment to your financial aid award for the 2024-25 year and beyond. While we are hopeful this award change will be net positive, it is possible it will not yield additional aid. We want to work with you to determine what changes may have impacted your award, and the potential to appeal those changes. To appeal your current financial aid award, please email a written narrative to finaid@hartford.edu. A submission of an appeal does not guarantee additional funds.
The FASFA Simplification Act will grant Federal Pell Grants to more students. The University of Hartford will evaluate how institutional need-based grant funding is awarded as well.
The “new” FAFSA will mandate that families use federal tax information directly from the federal IRS to complete the required financial information portions of the form. This will help ensure accuracy in SAI and Federal Pell grant awards. All students and contributors must provide consent and approval to have their federal tax information transferred directly into the FAFSA form via direct data exchange with the IRS.
Removal of the number of family members in college from the eligibility calculation which may result in reduced need-based eligibility for current students with siblings in college.
With the change to use the Student Aid Index (SAI) to need-based financial aid, there is a possibility for an SAI to be a negative number, with a minimum SAI of -1,500 instead of zero. The lower the SAI the more need the family demonstrates.
The number of questions on the FAFSA has decreased overall.
Who will need to contribute information on the FAFSA form will be determined when the student completes their portion. If your information is required to complete the FAFSA you will receive an email notification to complete your portion.
The FAFSA will not be complete until all contributors complete their portion of the FAFSA form.
Contributors may be the student, the student's spouse, biological or adoptive parent, and the spouse of the remarried parent list on the FAFSA- the step parent.
For divorced or separated parents, income and assets are reported for the parent who provides the most financial support over the 12 months prior to filing the FAFSA even if the student does not live with that parent or lives with the other parent. The parent of record is self-reported on the FAFSA by the student/parent.
Everyone contributing to the FAFSA form online must have their own StudentAid.gov account. Each contributor, including the student, will access their account with their own FSA ID (account username and password). If you have completed the FAFSA before but are unsure of your FSA ID, you may retrieve from the log in screen by clicking forgot username or forgot password.