Tuition and Aid

Keystone College is the most affordable private College in NEPA, but College is an expensive investment. We are committed to making a college education a real opportunity for students and their families. Eligible Keystone students receive many forms of assistance including scholarships, grants, loans, student employment, and veteran’s benefits.

Keystone College, through its educational programs, scholarships, support services, and emphasis on inclusion, aims to facilitate social mobility for you! We strive to provide a path for you to achieve your dreams and aspirations. We are the right place for you at the right price.

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File Your FAFSA

FAFSA Simplification

Due to the passing of the FAFSA Simplification Act enacted by Congress, Federal Student Aid is rolling out significant changes to the FAFSA. This first major redesign in over 40 years is intended to make applying for federal student aid easier for students and parents, with fewer questions and fewer requirements to streamline the process.

What do these changes mean?

When Schools Receive Your FASFA

The Department of Education began releasing the applicable data from students’ FAFSA submissions to their selected colleges in late March 2024. Unfortunately, this means that our Student Financial Aid office cannot confirm that your FAFSA has been received until we have had a chance to receive, review, and process that data for financial aid packaging. We will send out email communications once we have received it so that you stay informed of your progress (anticipated in April 2024).

Expanding Who Contributes & Signs the FASFA

The new term contributor has been introduced to the 2024-2025 FAFSA, which refers to anyone who is required to provide information on a student’s FAFSA form. The new FAFSA is student-driven, so that means the student’s answers in their section will determine who will be a contributor. Contributors besides the student and parent may now include the student’s spouse or the parent’s spouse (stepparent). Contributors will each log in to the FAFSA separately with their own FSA ID account to complete each of their specific sections and questions that only they can view.

Creating an FSA Account For all Contributors

Students and all contributors must register for an FSA account, known as an FSA ID, to complete and sign the online 2024-2025 FAFSA. The ability to create an FSA ID has been limited only to parents who can be verified with a Social Security Number. However, with this new change starting in December 2023, all parent and spouse contributors without a SSN may now create one using the Department of Education’s newly developed system to validate identity. All contributors are encouraged to create the FSA ID as soon as they can.

Consent to Exchange Tax Information From IRS

Rather than importing tax information into the FAFSA using the previously used IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT), contributors will now consent to transfer their tax information through the IRS Direct Data Exchange (DDX). This will reduce the number of financial questions that most families will see on the FAFSA. The student and all contributors must provide this consent and approval on the FAFSA to be eligible for federal student aid. Providing consent even applies to contributors who don’t have a Social Security Number, didn’t file 2022 taxes, or who filed taxes outside the US.

Replacing Expected Family Contribution (EFC) With the Student Aid Index (SAI)

The methodology used to measure a families ability to pay for college and their resulting financial aid eligibility, currently known as the Expected Family Contribution (EFC), has been replaced with the Student Aid Index (SAI). The new SAI formula will result in a new eligibility calculation for Federal Pell Grants and redefine a minimum need determination of SAI to be as low as -1500, to better target students with the highest need.

Expanding Access to Federal Aid

Adjustments to the new Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation and eligibility formulas are estimated to increase the number of Pell Grant recipients by nearly 15%. Eligibility for federal student aid will also be expanded by removing the questions related to Selective Service registration and drug conviction status and restoring access to Pell Grant for incarcerated students under specific programs.

Other Changes to the form

Once the FAFSA has been started, students will now be able to view the status, including contributor progress, on their FSA account.
Once all required data has been provided and all sections have been signed, any contributor can submit the FAFSA form.
After the FAFSA form is processed, a contributor can correct or update only their sections of the student’s application.
The results of the FAFSA form sent to the applicant in a document is now known as the FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS), formerly called the Student Aid Report (SAR). The FSS includes the official Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation and Federal Pell Grant eligibility.

The Promise

The Keystone Promise is our pledge to every Keystone College student that within six months of graduating they will receive at least one job offer or be accepted into a transfer or graduate program.

Stairs to Success

Our four-year developmental plan for student success and keeping the Promise is customized to develop the unique talents of our students and helps them succeed in their academic goals and career dreams.