FAFSA Simplification Act: The Impacts on Youth With Experience in Foster Care and Unaccompanied Homeless Youth

Once fully implemented, the FAFSA Simplification Act (FSA) will represent a significant overhaul of how students access federal financial aid through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This overhaul includes changes that expand eligibility for aid and make navigating and completing the FAFSA much more user friendly. The FSA also makes changes to how youth with experience in foster care and unaccompanied homeless youth establish and maintain their eligibility as independent students that will make the process less burdensome. The FSA changes should result in many more individuals: 1) having comprehensible information about financial aid so that they can plan for their futures, and 2) accessing financial aid because of expanded eligibility and the streamlining of information required to establish eligibility. This publication will summarize some of the key changes made by the FSA that will have the most impact on youth with experience in foster care and homeless unaccompanied youth and young adults. It will also include a discussion of the changes that have general applicability as well as changes specifically targeted at these two groups of individuals.