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Among the many changes to the FAFSA is an increase in the amount of income shielded from the formula that determines how much students have to pay and the aid they can receive. Congress directed the department to raise the amount of income protected by 20 percent for parents, 35 percent for dependent students and almost 60 percent for students with children of their own, and to adjust the numbers for inflation annually.
However, the department neglected to make the adjustment, which was supposed to be calculated using the consumer price index from April 2020 to April of this year — a period of record-high inflation.
