The Department of Education announced the creation of FAFSA Fast News: an online blog dedicated to connecting federal officials and financial aid professionals about all things related to the new FAFSA application. This forum is yet another resource that schools can utilize to stay up-to-date on the latest information as Rich Cordray, Chief Operating Officer of FSA, discusses in his letter below.
Dear Colleagues:
Welcome to FAFSA Fast News, a new blog on the Federal Student Aid (FSA) website dedicated to the implementation of the Better FAFSA. I am Rich Cordray, Chief Operating Officer of FSA.
On our FAFSA Fast News blog, you will hear directly from different voices across the U.S. Department of Education and FSA as part of our commitment to providing the most up-to-date information. Our top priority is to make sure schools, families, scholarship organizations, and states have the information they need to bring higher education in reach for more students and families.
First, I want to thank you for your extra efforts to implement the Better FAFSA, which I know is particularly challenging this year. We are working hard to address these challenges and ensure schools have the information needed to package and make aid offers as quickly as possible. To that end, the Department has delivered Institutional Student Information Records—known as ISIRs—to the majority of schools, states, and designated scholarship organizations, and expects FAFSA processing times to now keep pace with submissions. Going forward, schools should receive student records within 1-3 business days after they are submitted.
Later today, we will provide more information about which applications were affected by issues with tax data provided by the IRS on certain ISIRs and how schools can move forward with processing the ISIRs that were successfully delivered. And later this week, we will be hosting two webinars with FSA experts to talk about next steps on the tax data issue, as well as sharing the latest resources we are providing to schools and addressing common questions.
We recognize how important it is for schools and families to have the information they need to package and receive aid offers. Thank you for your partnership as we work together toward our shared goal of helping all students enroll in the college of their choice. We encourage you to bookmark this page and share it with your colleagues for regular status updates and resources related to the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form.
SOURCE: 2024-25 FAFSA Fast News