By Marlene Seeklander Interested community-based organizations (CBOs) can apply to participate in the first beta testing period of the 2025-26 FAFSA. The Department announced that interested CBOs can submit an interest form to participate in the BETA 1 testing period. Interested CBOs will have until the September 5 deadline to submit the interest form and describe […]
2025-26 FAFSA Beta 1 Interest Form available Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Federal Student Aid (FSA) recently announced the launch of their 2024-25 Learning Tracks and Training Courses, which have been revised to incorporate changes made through FAFSA Simplification and other guidance. According to an FSA announcement, financial aid professionals should find the training more engaging, interactive, and modern. Whether a comprehensive or a more
New and enhanced training available on the FSA Training Center Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Some reading material that will help you start your 2025-26 planning is now available. FSA announced the availability of the 2025–26 FAFSA Specifications Guide. This guide will assist schools and other FSA partners in incorporating the functionality of the electronic FAFSA into their institutional systems. FSA will post volumes of the guide throughout fall
2025-26 FAFSA Specifications Guide Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander As schools are ramping up for the start of the 2024-25 school year, the COD system is doing the same. In an announcement from the Department, the following peak processing reminders were shared: Questions can be directed to the FSA Partner and School Relations Center at 1-800-848-0978 or via email at CODSupport@ed.gov.
COD system peak processing reminders Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander There’s one item that you may want to have near the top of your financial aid reading list. An August 23 Electronic Announcement from ED announced the availability of the Appendices of the 2024-25 Federal Student Aid Handbook. The Appendices, which includes general interest information that isn’t appropriate for just one volume of
2024-25 FSA Handbook Appendices now available Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander This past academic year has been one of change for the Department of Education and, as a result, for financial aid professionals. To help financial aid professionals with the changes, Federal Student Aid (FSA) has made available a video about making corrections in the FAFSA Partner Portal. To access the video: No-cost technical
FAFSA Partner Portal corrections training resource Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander The long-awaited processing of 2024-25 paper FAFSAs is now underway but won’t be complete until after the fall semester begins for many institutions. The Department of Education (ED) announced on July 30 that they had started processing paper FAFSA forms and an August 19 update stated that they anticipate to complete this processing
Updated timeline for 2024-25 FAFSA paper processing Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Accurately completing the FISAP is important and those responsible for it can complete an online, self-paced training course. The Department announced that the 2025-26 FISAP course is now available on the FSA Training Center to assist with completing the FISAP for 2023-24 and Application to Participate for 2025-26. The FISAP, available on the
Online training available for completing the 2025-26 FISAP Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Many schools may now need to dedicate staff to performing individual corrections to FAFSA information. In an already frustrating award cycle, the Department of Education announced that it will not offer schools the ability to do batch corrections for 2024-25 and has deferred this functionality until 2025-26. The news was released via a
Batch corrections not available for 2024-25, additional support, and flexibilities Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander The Department of Education is among the federal offices closed for the Labor Day federal holiday on Monday, September 2. The August 19 announcement states that the Federal Student Aid (FSA) processors and contact centers will be closed on September 2. All FSA websites will be operational on the holiday. The following additional
Labor Day holiday closings for federal offices Read More »
