College Aid Services

DECEMBER 17, 2024

The Department of Education has released the Application and Verification Guide of 2025-26 Federal Student Aid Handbook. The text is designed for financial aid professionals and counselors to help students file their FAFSA applications, make corrections, and verify information.

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IHEP Institute for Higher Education Policy

JULY 23, 2024

Higher education leaders, institutions, and systems need data that are accurate, accessible, and disaggregated by race and ethnicity in ways that reflect the increasing diversity of today’s students. Full compliance across all data collections and publications is required by March 2029.

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College Aid Services

MARCH 21, 2025

Updated March 21st The Department of Education continues to update the “Technical Frequently Asked Questions and Known Issues” to address issues for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 FAFSA applications. According to the FAQ, there are currently 3 open issues and 3 that have been resolved.

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College Aid Services

AUGUST 26, 2024

Federal Student Aid has released the first four volumes of the 2025-26 FAFSA Specifications Guide. The volumes contained in this guide contain FAFSA Processing System (FPS) technical information for the 2025-26 award year and are only available as PDF documents at this time.

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College Aid Services

JUNE 18, 2024

FSA has released an electronic announcement to clarify how issues discovered during the 2024-25 FAFSA rollout would be treated in terms of conflicting information and the appropriate steps that Financial Aid offices should take.

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College Aid Services

FEBRUARY 21, 2025

Federal Student Aid has updated the 202425 FAFSA Specifications Guide. The volumes contained in this guide contain FAFSA Processing System (FPS) technical and processing information for the 202425 award year. Update on Feb. 21, 2025: We updated Volume 5 Edits and Rejects and Volume 7 Comment Codes.

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College Aid Services

JULY 11, 2024

Noncitizens are eligible for federal aid through the FAFSA application if they fall within specific classifications—such as permanent resident, conditional entrant, or refugee, etc.—and and provide a valid Alien Registration number that is verified by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

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College Aid Services

FEBRUARY 24, 2025

The Department of Education has released an updated timeline for launching batch institutional corrections for the 2024-25 and 2025 -26 FAFSA applications through the Electronic Data Exchange (EDE). 27 The post Beta Testing Phase Ends for FAFSA Batch Correction, Processing Begins Feb.

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College Aid Services

AUGUST 9, 2024

FSA acknowledged that this would cause significant delays for the small population of applicants who do not pass the initial identity verification… More » DHS Implements Temporary Fix to Address FAFSA Verification Backlog The post DHS Implements Temporary Fix to Address FAFSA Verification Backlog first appeared on College Aid Services.

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College Aid Services

JANUARY 9, 2024

The English and Spanish FAFSA Submission Summary are now available online as a training resource for financial aid professionals. To access the documents, click the PDF links at the bottom of the FSA press release below.

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College Aid Services

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

Federal Student Aid has updated the draft 2024–25 FAFSA Specifications Guide. The volumes contained in this guide contain FAFSA Processing System (FPS) technical and processing information for the 2024–25 award year. What changed?

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College Aid Services

JANUARY 9, 2024

FSA is conducting another set of webinars designed to answer your most pressing questions about the new FAFSA application.

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College Aid Services

JULY 25, 2023

Last Friday, operational guidance was released by the Department of Education on how institutions are to report Federal Work-Study earnings using the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system. The electronic announcement (CB-23-13) can be found on the FSA website and is also below for reference.

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College Aid Services

DECEMBER 13, 2024

Financial Aid Offices can now utilize the Application Receipt Date on the 2024-25 paper FAFSA forms to determine a student’s eligibility for late disbursements using a copy of the original paper FAFSA, mailing receipts if there discrepancies.

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College Aid Services

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

Today, the Department of Education reiterated their commitment to supporting institutions as they transition to the 24-25 FAFSA and address various issues along the way.

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College Planners of America

MAY 13, 2023

The 2024–25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) integrates major changes in the way students will apply for Federal student aid. Education Department (ED), these changes will help students by enabling a better and simpler FAFSA experience. According to the U.S.

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College Aid Services

FEBRUARY 25, 2025

FSA announced that it will resume flagging FAFSA applicants for potentially fraudulent activity on both the the 2024-25 and 2025-26 forms, which will require that schools complete V4 or V5 verification prior to disbursing any Title IV aid.

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College Aid Services

AUGUST 2, 2024

Below is an overview of the Department’s guidance for financial aid offices to address this… More » Resolving Conflicting Information on the 2024-25 FAFSA (August 2024 Update) The post Resolving Conflicting Information on the 2024-25 FAFSA (August 2024 Update) first appeared on College Aid Services.

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College Aid Services

JULY 25, 2024

Federal Student Aid has updated the 2024–25 FAFSA Specifications Guide. The volumes contained in this guide contain FAFSA Processing System (FPS) technical and processing information for the 2024–25 award year. What changed?

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College Aid Services

SEPTEMBER 13, 2024

Today, the Department of Education announced that the deadline for Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment Reporting is being extended to January 15, 2025. This announcement provides much needed relief to Financial Aid offices across the country who are already struggling with issues surrounding the the 2024-25 FAFSA.

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College Aid Services

OCTOBER 16, 2024

Federal Student Aid has released volumes of the 2025-26 FAFSA Specifications Guide. The volumes contained in this guide contain FAFSA Processing System (FPS) technical information for the 2025-26 award year and are only available as PDF documents at this time. Update on October 16, 2024: FSA has published Volume 8 – Agency Matches.

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College Aid Services

OCTOBER 9, 2024

Federal Student Aid has released volumes of the 2025-26 FAFSA Specifications Guide. The volumes contained in this guide contain FAFSA Processing System (FPS) technical information for the 2025-26 award year and are only available as PDF documents at this time. Update on October 8, 2024: FSA has published Volume 1 – Summary of Changes.

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College Aid Services

JUNE 18, 2024

FSA has released an electronic announcement to clarify how issues discovered during the 2024-25 FAFSA rollout would be treated in terms of conflicting information and the appropriate steps that Financial Aid offices should take.

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College Aid Services

JULY 31, 2024

Federal Student Aid revealed yesterday that batch institutional corrections will be delayed until the 2025-26 because schools would not have access until after the fall semester begins and to prioritize a success rollout of next year’s FAFSA application.

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College Aid Services

JULY 22, 2024

The latest electronic announcement outlines 2024-25 federal guidelines to determine when a FAFSA applicant qualifies for independent status as a unaccompanied youth who is homeless, self-supporting, or at risk of being homeless.

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College Aid Services

MARCH 4, 2024

Federal Student Aid has published several important changes regarding the 2024-2025 FAFSA. What changed? FSA has replaced the SAI formula that it released on February 27th with its previous iteration due to the passage of the Extension of Continuing Appropriations and Other Matters Act, 2024.

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College Aid Services

JULY 30, 2024

The Department of Education has provided updated guidance on the use of FAFSA data for identifying students who may be eligible for means-tested benefits. Initially designated under Section 483(a)(3)(E) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, this provision allowed institutions to utilize FAFSA data for outreach purposes.

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College Aid Services

JULY 31, 2024

The Department of Education announced it will maintain its temporary policies for applications without a SSN to access the 2024-25 FAFSA form until it can resolve the underlying issues with secondary identity verifications.

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College Aid Services

SEPTEMBER 19, 2024

In a recent publication, Federal Student Aid released key deadlines for Title IV institutions must submit reports for the 2024-25 academic year.

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College Planners of America

APRIL 28, 2023

Three years ago, Congress enacted long-overdue reforms in the passage of the FAFSA Simplification Act of 2020, which substantially improves Federal student aid process. Education Department ( ED ) was to complete the changes to the FAFSA system mandated by the Act in time for the 2022-23 award year (college admissions cycle).

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Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

FEBRUARY 13, 2024

Department of Education (ED) announced additional steps to facilitate submitting the 2024–25 FAFSA form. Last week, ED announced $50 million in funding for personnel and resources, including technical assistance and support, deployed to support institutions, students and their families with Better FAFSA®. On Monday, the U.S.

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College Aid Services

DECEMBER 12, 2024

8932, also known as the FAFSA Deadline Act, is federal law now that it has the President’s signature. The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support with a 381-1 vote in the House of Representatives on November 15 and then passed unanimously in the Senate one week later.

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College Aid Services

NOVEMBER 8, 2024

The federal government published a comprehensive guide to how Title IV institutions state grant agencies, and contractors can utilize personally identifiable information that they receive from the FAFSA Application. of Education Issues Guidance on Handling FAFSA Data When Administering Student Aid The post Dept.

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College Aid Services

JANUARY 21, 2025

The Department of Education has released an updated timeline for launching batch institutional corrections for the 2024-25 and 2025 -26 FAFSA applications through the Electronic Data Exchange (EDE).

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College Aid Services

FEBRUARY 27, 2025

Federal Student Aid has released the first portion of the 2026-27 FAFSA Specifications Guide, which contains technical information related to the FAFSA Processing System (FPS) for the 2026-27 award year. Currently, the volume(s) below are available only in Excel spreadsheet format at this time.

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College Aid Services

MARCH 18, 2025

The Department of Education sent the new MESSAGTB file to all user mailboxes through the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) on March 7. EDconnect will automatically download and import the updated message class table, which includes new message classes for Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System and FAFSA Processing System (FPS).

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College Aid Services

FEBRUARY 19, 2025

In accordance with President Trump’s executive order, question 11 on the FAFSA form was updated to only offer “male” and “female” options for applicants to select.

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