To cut down on potential fraud and streamline processes, the Department of Education outlined instructions for the V4 and V5 verification groups in the latest Federal Register and as an update to an earlier Dear Colleague Letter.
In the July 22 Federal Register Notice and July 22 Dear Colleague Letter update, the Department of Education reminded institutions that the Statement of Educational Purpose is no longer required for the 2025-26 award year.
In addition, two new methods have been added for schools to use when verifying identity. These include:
- A video call between the student and college personnel.
- Documentation that the student had his or her identity verified by a third party using a method satisfying the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Identity Assurance Level 2 (NIST IAL2) standard.
For individuals who are confined or incarcerated and enrolled in an eligible prison education program, their identity will be considered verified if it was verified by an authorized official at the correctional facility.
More detailed information addressing the acceptable documentation changes for identity verification are in the Federal Register, Supplementary Information chart, under Identity. The changes apply to all students who were selected at any time during the 2025-2026 award year.
