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The U.S. Department of Education issued an Electronic Announcement: Update Regarding StudentAid.gov Account Creation for Individuals Without a Social Security Number | Knowledge Center. It is announcing the closing of the IDVerification@ed.gov email account - the account used by those who do not have an SSN to submit proof of identity as a part of the manual identity validation process.
It is important to note that the Department is no longer collecting information not needed to protect the privacy of students and families. The Department will continue to work with schools to ensure that all students receive the correct amount of financial aid as quickly and easily as possible.
Below are important headlines to be aware of to share with your networks:
• The Department is continuing the current practice, originally announced in April, that those without a Social Security number (SSN) do not need to complete the manual identity validation process to submit the FAFSA form.
• The Department does not need to validate the identity of parents and spouses who contribute to the FAFSA form but do not have an SSN, as they cannot currently use the direct data exchange with the IRS that automatically transfers over their income data from the IRS directly to the FAFSA. This data exchange was new for the 2024-25 FAFSA. Prior to the 2024-2025 cycle the Department did not validate the identity of parents and spouses who contribute to the FAFSA form.
• The Department is currently working to ensure that everyone is able to use the direct data exchange with the IRS and procure a longer-term solution for manual identity validation that is a secure system that does not fully rely on manual review by the Department representatives. Until that time - currently planned for the 2026-27 FAFSA cycle - the Department will hold on collecting any unnecessary identity documents.
• Students without an SSN who are eligible for federal student aid will continue to be validated by their institutions to ensure the student’s identity and citizenship before they receive any aid. The Department continues to take steps to ensure appropriate mitigation for potential fraud, including requiring identity and income verification by schools, oversight by the Department through program reviews of schools, and referring cases of financial aid fraud to other agencies as appropriate.
• This announcement update requires numerous guidance materials that need to reflect this change. All resources will be updated over the course of the next 1-2 weeks. Until those are complete, please refer to these two resources which are currently updated:
Thank you for all you do to support FAFSA completion in Arizona! As we all know, completing the FAFSA is an essential step toward students accessing federal financial aid and positions students to be 84% more likely to pursue education or training beyond high school. You might be hearing questions about data privacy - under current federal law, submitting personal identifying information (PII), through the FAFSA, including a parent’s citizenship status, is protected and used only for determining financial aid eligibility. For the latest information about FAFSA PII privacy, bookmark the resources below:
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