General Information for Partners

View information on Eligible Partners, Systems and Services, and Organization Structure.

Eligible Partners

Who is an eligible partner?

The following entities are eligible partners:

  • Postsecondary educational institutions that participate in the federal student financial aid programs authorized under Title IV, HEA.

  • Organizations that contract with an eligible institution to perform Title IV, HEA related functions as a third-party servicer,

  • Guaranty Agencies (GAs) that have an agreement with ED under the FFELP or their GA Servicers,

  • FFELP Lenders or their FFELP Lender Servicers,

  • Federal Loan Servicers,

  • State Higher Education Agencies and

  • Other Designated Entities approved by ED.

What is needed?

Federal Student Aid Systems and Services

Organization Personnel

The following roles are required for successful enrollment and ongoing management within Partner Connect. Each role has specific responsibilities related to user access, mailbox management, and oversight functions.

Authorizing Official

The Authorizing Official is typically the CEO, President, or equivalent executive leader of the organization. This individual is legally authorized to certify the organization’s administrators and is responsible for designating the Primary Administrator.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Certifies the organization’s administrators
  • Appoints the Primary Administrator
  • Signs the Authorizing Official Approval Form on behalf of the organization

Authorizing Official Designee

Appointed by the Authorizing Official, this individual serves as a secondary point of responsibility for managing the organization.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Acts on behalf of the Authorizing Official when needed
  • Supports organizational oversight and administration

Primary Administrator

The Primary Administrator is the main individual responsible for managing the organization’s user access within Partner Connect.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Assigns access to SAIG mailboxes, batch services and FSA systems
  • Determines which partner users are authorized to access the SAIG Mailbox
  • Enrolls and manages Secondary Administrators

Secondary Administrator

The Secondary Administrator supports the Primary Administrator in managing user access.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Manages access to SAIG Mailboxes under the Primary SAIG Mailbox hierarchy
  • Modifies services associated with those mailboxes

Application Administrator

This individual will receive temporary access to FSA Partner Connect upon completion of the Pre-Eligibility Application.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Complete the Initial Eligibility Application
  • Grant temporary access to users assisting with the completion of the Initial Eligibility Application

Eligibility & Oversight (E&O) Administrator

This individual manages user access to eZ-Audit and oversees access to Eligibility and Oversight (E&O) cases.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Grants and manages access to eZ-Audit
  • Manages permissions for viewing and editing Eligibility & Oversight cases including access to the Title IV Participation Application and Third-Party Servicer Inquiry Form

Alternate E&O Administrator

The Alternate E&O Administrator serves as a backup to the E&O Administrator.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Assists with managing eZ-Audit access
  • Supports viewing and editing of E&O cases including access to the Title IV Participation Application and Third-Party Servicer Inquiry Form

Partner User

A Partner User is a non-administrative user within the organization.

Key Responsibilities:

  • May be granted EDconnect access to an SAIG or FT Mailbox and/or access to other FSA Systems
  • Does not have administrative privileges

Additional Resources

For further details on updating the Authorizing Official and/or Authorizing Official Designee, please consult the Account Creation and Management Job Aid & Updating Authorizing Officials and Designees for Guaranty Agency, Guaranty Agency Servicer, Lender, Lender Servicer Administrators Job Aid.

For further details on updating the Primary Administrator and/or Secondary Administrator, please consult the Enrollment & Management for External Administrators Job Aid.

OMB Clearance and Paper Reduction Statement

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1845-0187. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 10-20 minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The obligation to respond to this collection is required to obtain or retain a benefit (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.). If you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this application, please contact the FSA Partner and School Relations Center via the Contact Customer Support form on FSA Partner Connect (https://fsapartners.ed.gov/help-center/contact-customer-support) or phone at 1-800-848-0978 (Monday through Friday, 8:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time) directly.