Schools, state agencies, and vendors need to be aware of updates coming in April 2026 to various Department of Education systems resulting from the Budget Reconciliation Bill.
In a March 9 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education outlined updates that will be implemented to several Federal Student Aid (FSA) systems and the FAFSA from the Budget Reconciliation Bill. All changes to the FPS, NSLDS, and COD systems outlined in the announcement will be released on April 26, with the eligibility changes and modified loan limit provisions effective July 1.
The Department is currently involved in rulemaking on many of the provisions, with final regulations forthcoming. They are now providing technical guidance to support institutions, states, and vendors in preparing their systems to implement these changes in April. If the upcoming regulations result in changes to the technical updates, additional guidance will be provided.
Detailed information addressing the following topics is included in the announcement:
- Eligible Workforce Programs – Updates will be made to the FAFSA Processing System (FPS), FAFSA Partner Portal (FPP), and the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system.
- Modified Loan Limits – Updates will be made to the National Student Loan Data (NSLDS) system, the ISIR (NSLDS information block), and the FAFSA Processing System (FPS).
In September 2025, FAFSA changes related to the bill were made prior to the release of the 2026-27 FAFSA. Once the April 2026 changes are made to the processing systems, FSA does not anticipate any additional bill-related changes to the FAFSA form.
While the 2025-26 ISIR format will not change, any 2026-27 ISIR generated on or after April 26 will include the new format. A draft of the updated 2026–27 ISIR layout and Volume 4A of the 2026–27 FAFSA Specifications Guide is now available. The Department will communicate information as updates are made to Volumes 1, 4B, 5, 6, and 7 in the next month.
The announcement also states that no large-scale reprocessing will occur because of the launch. Changes to student records in NSLDS may trigger a post-screening NSLDS system generated transaction using the existing process.
