Although many of the major stumbling blocks with the simplified FAFSA have been overcome, there have been a few remaining issues for students and parents.
The Department of Education has now announced plans to fix two of those issues involving the identity verification and the contributor invite processes.
Real-time identity verification – Starting in August, anyone who creates a StudentAid.gov account with a Social Security number (SSN) will have immediate verification of their account instead of the current one-to-three day waiting period, thus allowing for immediate transfer of tax information from the IRS. Any user without an SSN will need to follow the identity validation processes currently in place.
Simplified Contributor Invite Process – Students will be able to invite a parent or spouse as a contributor by only entering an email address. With this new process, students won’t need to enter the personal information – such as birthdate and Social Security number – of the parent or spouse contributor.
In addition to these improvements, the Department also plans to conduct beta testing with students, institutions of higher education, and vendors beginning in early August.
