While exhibiting at NASFAA’s 2024 Leadership & Legislative Conference & Expo, Parker Charlton, FAAC® and I had the opportunity to attend sessions featuring both the Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, and a panel of Department of Education (ED) officials. They acknowledged the challenges posed by the 2024-2025 FAFSA and subsequent ISIR delays, and shared crucial insights impacting the financial aid community.
Cardona outlined a three-point plan for the newly formed FAFSA College Support Strategy, as documented below. Additionally, ED released an Electronic Announcement on Friday, February 9 that confirmed these highlights. You can read the electronic announcement GENERAL-24-09 here.
- Within the next three weeks, ED will begin deploying teams of federal experts to under- resourced institutions to provide the necessary support in preparation for receiving processed ISIRs and awarding students. In addition, a concierge service for institutions will be launched so that institutions have a direct line of communication to ED to seek guidance and relay issues. Institutions can email requests to CollegeSupportStrategy-FAFSA@ed.gov, and they will be considered as they are received.
- Up to $50 million will be allocated for technical assistance and on-campus support to those institutions with the most need of help.
- No later than Friday, February 16, ED will begin releasing a portion of test versions of ISIRs to institutions and software providers.
During the panel session, ED officials addressed the following key concerns and outlined their proposed actions.
- ED officials expressed confidence that verification relief will be forth coming for 2024-2025 award year either through a verification waiver or extremely low selection rate. If the relief is provided through a low verification selection rate, ED indicated they will not publish the exact rate.
- ED committed to prioritizing and rectifying the inability to submit FAFSAs for students whose FAFSA contributors lack a Social Security Number.
- ED confirmed that ISIRs will be processed in the manner first in, first out. It was also confirmed that all electronic FAFSAs will be processed prior to paper FAFSAs.
- Lastly, ED reiterated Cardona’s plans to work with software providers to ensure the smooth delivery of ISIRs.
These updates highlight significant steps being taken to support institutions and students amidst FAFSA and ISIR delays. We eagerly anticipate official announcements regarding these initiatives.
