The gate restricting entry to the FAFSA for some students and their parents has been opened by the Department of Education.
In an Electronic Announcement this week, the U.S. Department of Education said it would allow students, whose parents may not have a Social Security number, to immediately access the 2024-25 FAFSA online after creating a StudentAid.gov account.
New users who request a StudentAid.gov account and cannot validate their identity using the knowledge-based questions (as generated by TransUnion) must still complete the manual process to validate their identity. However, they will not have to wait to have their identity validation completed before they can use their account username and password to access and complete the online 2024-25 FAFSA form.
“These changes should significantly streamline the application process for students who have contributors without an SSN,” the Department said in the announcement.
Students and contributors without an SSN must continue to manually enter their tax information. Students without an SSN must verify their eligible noncitizen status through their school before they receive any federal funds.
