ED Provides Additional 2024-25 FAFSA Updates on Paper Processing, Identity Validation, and Extension of Flexibilities
By Maria Carrasco, NASFAA Staff Reporter
The Department of Education (ED) on Tuesday, in a pair of notices, provided key updates on the 2024-25 FAFSA concerning paper processing, identity validation, and extensions of previously made flexibilities to assist with the added burdens associated with the current FAFSA cycle.
2024-25 FAFSA Paper Processing
In one electronic announcement, ED announced that it will begin processing paper FAFSAs this week for the 2024-25 cycle. ED expects that the processing of paper FAFSAs will be complete within two to three weeks.
ED said that it has received 34,000 unduplicated paper applications, of which 24,000 are complete and will be processed. These totals make up 3% of all FAFSA submissions for 2024-25. Once the form has been processed students can track its status online.
The department also delayed the estimated availability of, and reversed its course on, paper FAFSA corrections. Initially, ED said that corrections for paper FAFSAs would be available in the “first half of August.” Institutions can now expect paper FAFSA corrections to be available at the “end of September.”
ED is encouraging applicants and contributors to make corrections to processed paper FAFSAs online, along with financial aid administrators.
Citing delays associated with the paper FAFSA form, ED announced certain flexibilities to “allow institutions to disburse aid,” in addition to exploring ways they can support institutions and students until paper corrections are available.
These flexibilities include extending the 2024-25 deadline for reporting Direct Loan, Pell Grant, and TEACH Grant program disbursements to the COD System to November 30 or 15 calendar days after the disbursement is made, whichever is later.
The department also provided flexibility and guidance in situations where a student completed a paper FAFSA, enrolled only for the summer term at an institution where summer is treated as the beginning of the 2024-25 award year (summer header), and completed their enrollment before their paper FAFSA was processed.
In another electronic announcement, ED announced that it will continue to forgo the identity validation process for individuals without a Social Security Number (SSN). In April, ED initially announced that as a workaround, it would temporarily allow individuals whose identity had not yet been validated to complete and submit the FAFSA before the validation process was completed.
ED wrote that it will further extend this flexibility and will not implement “any form” of restricted status for students or contributors without a SSN. This extension will continue until ED develops a solution to the manual identity validation process, and the ability for those without an SSN to utilize the FUTURE Act Direct Data Exchange (FA-DDX) to transfer their tax information into the FAFSA. The department will provide more updates on the development of the solution and ability for those without an SSN to use the IRS tool.
Availability of FAFSA Partner Portal (FPP) Functionality Features
Additionally, the department announced the delay of several FAFSA Partner Portal (FPP) functionality features. Those include:
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The Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) request functionality, which according to ED, will be implemented “later in the award year.”
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Requests for year to date (YTD) ISIRs will not be available for 2024-25 and will instead be available beginning in the 2026-27 cycle.
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ISIR compare, which allows users to compare up to four FAFSA transactions, will also not be available for 2024-25 and will instead be available beginning in the 2026-27 cycle.
If an institution needs to request a missing ISIR, they should contact the FPS help desk at 1-800-330-5947 or by email at [email protected].
The department reminded partners that the feature of V4 and V5 Verification outcomes reporting will be available later in 2024. ED said it will provide partners with updates as they become available on the Knowledge Center.
And to clarify, the department noted that financial aid administrators (FAAs) may view and correct processed applicant data in the FPP. However, ED noted, the FAFSA Simplification Act requires consent and approval to have federal tax information transferred and used. Institutions cannot submit a signature on behalf of a student or their contributors and cannot submit a paper FAFSA form into the processing system. Additionally, FAAs cannot update personally identifiable information attached to a studentaid.gov account, ED wrote.
Stay tuned to Today’s News for more updates on FAFSA processing.
Publication Date: 7/31/2024
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