Editor’s note: This weekly update from the government relations office at the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) provides the latest on what’s happening in Washington and how AACC is advancing policies to support community colleges and students. Send questions, feedback and more to: kgimborys@aacc.nche.edu.
- Department of Education announces completion of FAFSA reprocessing, new process for non-SSN contributors
- Secretary Cardona defends FY 25 budget request
Department of Education announces completion of FAFSA reprocessing, new process for non-SSN contributors
On Tuesday, the Department of Education (ED) announced that they had completed the processing of Free Applications for Federal Student Aid (FAFSAs) for forms impacted by known issues. As a reminder, ED had previously announced that 30 percent of received applications – roughly two million students – would need to be recalculated and retransmitted to colleges due to vendor errors and tax data issues. While the Department acknowledged that some outlier applications may still need to be reprocessed due to one-off errors, colleges should have now received accurate Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) – the financial aid information colleges need to package financial aid offers – for all students impacted by the data errors. The Department has not yet released a timeline for processing paper FAFSAs or institutional corrections. AACC is monitoring these issues and will continue to request more information on the timeline from agency officials.
In the same press release, the Department announced a new, streamlined FAFSA submission process for students from mixed-status families – where a parent or contributor does not have a social security number (SSN). Since the launch of the updated FAFSA form in late December, students from mixed-status families have been unable to complete and submit an application online because contributors have been unable to validate their identities to receive an FSA ID. The Department has since announced several “workarounds” for these students, including having students fill out a paper FAFSA and having students fill out an online FAFSA with a missing signature to be added later. These workarounds introduced additional complexity to the process and new issues for students and contributors.
Per Tuesday’s announcement, ED will temporarily allow contributors without an SSN to obtain an FSA ID and submit an online FAFSA before validating their identity. As the contributors will not be able to verify their identity with TransUnion, they will not be able to take advantage of the IRS data matching and will have to manually enter their federal tax information. The new process can also be utilized by students without an SSN who are eligible for federal student aid – including students from the freely associated states – but colleges must verify their eligible noncitizen status before aid is disbursed. Department officials continue to underscore that this is a temporary fix and that they are working to find a permanent solution that will allow these students and contributors to take advantage of the IRS data match and have the same filing experience as any other applicant in forthcoming award years.
Secretary Cardona defends FY 25 budget request
On Tuesday, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona appeared before the Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee to testify on the Biden Administrations Fiscal Year 2025 (FY 25) budget request for the Department of Education (ED). As a reminder, the request includes many of President Biden’s longstanding priorities, including creating a national free community college program and substantially increasing the maximum Pell Grant award for students attending nonprofit institutions. The request also asks for maintained or slightly increased funding for other key community college priorities, including campus-based aid programs, Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools (CCAMPIS) programs, and the Title III-A Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP).
While the hearing was set to focus on proposed funding levels for various programs, Senators took the opportunity to press the Secretary on the Administration’s bungled implementation of the FAFSA Simplification Act and reports of antisemitism on college campuses. AACC’s Matthew Dembicki has more on the hearing in the Community College Daily.