On Feb. 5, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) released a FAFSA College Support Strategy to provide additional personnel, funding, resources, and technology to help schools and students complete the better FAFSA® form, and to help colleges prepare to package students’ financial aid as quickly and accurately as possible.
As the Department committed to providing on Feb. 6, 2024, this Electronic Announcement provides further details on the three components of the FAFSA College Support Strategy:
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Deploying federal personnel and expertise to help colleges prepare for and process financial aid forms;
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Directing funding for technical assistance and support to under-resourced colleges; and
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Releasing tools to help colleges prepare to quickly and accurately process student records and deliver financial aid packages.
More details on each of these three components are below.
Deploying Federal Personnel and Expertise to Colleges
Standing up a new concierge service: This week the Department launched a concierge service within Federal Student Aid (FSA) to provide institutions with direct access to financial aid experts for additional support preparing to send aid offers to students. Institutions can email for services such as:
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Answers to questions regarding the 2024-25 FAFSA process on topics such as the new Student Aid Index (SAI) formula and Pell eligibility; status of various FAFSA form functionalities; and clarification on existing guidance.
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Help locating or understanding existing tools and resources such as trainings, guidance documents, fact sheets, and videos.
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Requests for more extensive support, such as consultants to advise on preparations to get aid packages out to students; additional external staff to support creation of aid packages and communicate with students; onsite campus visits from financial aid experts for review of campus policies and procedures; tests of systems to ensure readiness to receive Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs), and support liaising with software vendors.
Deploying FSA experts to under-resourced colleges: The Department will be deploying federal financial aid experts to a group of lower-resourced colleges. Institutions will be prioritized to receive more extensive support from FSA based on several factors including known past challenges in administering a Title IV program (e.g., on heightened cash monitoring), percentage of enrolled students that receive Pell grants, imminent critical deadlines (e.g., decision dates or start of summer semester), and the level of resources currently available to the institution.
Next week, FSA will begin reaching out to institutions that it has proactively identified as potentially benefiting from this support, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and tribal colleges and universities. Requests to the email will be considered as they are received. FSA staff will then contact colleges who have requested more extensive support to get more details on their challenges and determine whether additional support should be provided. On-site campus visits and support will begin in the next two weeks and continue, as needed, through spring and summer.
Providing Funding for Technical Assistance and On-the-Ground Support
The Department has authorized the Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) to use $50M of federal funds to support institutions in preparing for the 2024-25 FAFSA cycle. ECMC has thus far engaged the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) and the Partnership for Education Advancement, and they have begun their recruitment of staff this week and will start providing support to institutions based on their needs this month.
These organizations will provide additional technical assistance and support for under-resourced colleges beyond the federal teams deployed by the Department. Participating colleges could receive additional staff support to deliver services such as assessing financial aid system readiness and implementing necessary updates, training staff, developing aid packages, and carrying out other student aid requirements.
While the Department is not a party to ECMC’s agreements with NASFAA and the Partnership for Education Advancement, FSA will work with all organizations to ensure services are coordinated efficiently and effectively. NASFAA and the Partnership for Education Advancement will not take direct requests for support. To request support, please email the FSA concierge service.
Releasing Data and Tools to Help Colleges Prepare to Quickly and Accurately Process Student Records, Deliver Financial Aid Packages
As announced earlier this week, the Department is on-track to release test versions of ISIRs no later than Feb. 16, 2024. These test ISIRs will enable colleges to prepare their own systems and processes to accurately and efficiently assemble aid packages. The Department is working directly with vendors and state systems to discuss how they use test data and tools in their processes. Specifically, we are working with these critical links to campuses to understand how they build their aid management software, how they use these test ISIRs, and which aspects they are keen to test first. The Department will also provide open-source tools to support institutions using test ISIRs next week.
As announced in September 2023, institutions, states, or the vendors supporting them must take action to ensure their new FTI-SAIG mailbox is ready to receive 2024-25 ISIRs. SAIG enrollment agreements submitted after Feb. 23, 2024 may not be processed in time to receive 2024–25 ISIRs when we begin transmitting them in the first half of March. If you have questions about this process, please contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 1-800-330-5947 or by email at CPSSAIG@ed.gov.
As a reminder, the data on students’ 2024–25 FAFSA submissions by high school is updated weekly to allow high schools to track progress, target supports, and encourage their students to submit a FAFSA form. Additionally, the Department will continue to provide tools such as StudentAid.gov/fafsatips to give FAFSA applicants and contributors important information to help them successfully complete and submit the 2024–25 FAFSA form.
The Department is committed to supporting institutions in their efforts to provide aid packages as quickly as possible so that students can make informed decisions. Schools may submit their questions and requests for resources via email.