Newsroom
Know your own phone number? Get access to your federal student aid information
March 25, 2019
For students, parents, and borrowers, getting access to their accounts on the Department of Education websites may soon be as easy as remembering their own phone number.
The Department of Education announced earlier this month that it will debut a new and improved FSA ID, implementing several enhancements to improve the FSA ID experience.
Among the changes, the one that is likely to have the biggest impact on users is the ability for students, parents, and borrowers to use their mobile phone number to log in to an account.
According to the Department, FSA ID users will be able to log in with a verified mobile phone number as an alternative to a username. Currently, FSA ID users may log in with a username or verified email address.
In the announcement, the Department said this enhancement recognizes that some FSA ID users may prefer the use of a mobile phone over email and provides greater flexibility for students, parents, and borrowers. To take advantage of this new option, the user must first register his or her mobile phone number on the FSA ID website if he or she has not already done so.
The Department will also implement the following new functionality:
- Warn users who enter an email address domain type of .edu, .k12, .pvt, .tec, or .cc that they should include an email address to which they will not lose access (after graduation, etc.).
- Remove the 18-month password update requirement. A password change will be required only after a security event.
- Remove the requirement for special characters in an FSA ID password. However, we will allow additional special characters in the password field for users who wish to use special characters.
- Warn users when their account is about to be locked. The warning will indicate how many log in attempts remain.
Additional, minor changes will be made to further improve the FSA ID user experience by streamlining processes and improving flow.