Introducing the New Earnings Indicator on the FAFSA® Form
Nicholas Kent
December 8, 2025
As more than half of all Americans question whether a college degree is worth the price of tuition and the federal student loan portfolio nears a staggering $1.7 trillion, the Department of Education is taking significant steps to ensure that students and families have clear information to make informed postsecondary education enrollment decisions—before they take on debt they may never be able to repay. That’s why we’re introducing a new earnings indicator to complement the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) process—a transparency feature that uses current, publicly available College Scorecard data to provide students straightforward, reliable information as they consider their postsecondary options.
