Posted Date:February 10, 2011
| Author: | Richard J. Gordon, Chief Information Officer, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: Isolated FAFSA Access Issue
A small number of students that either saved or corrected a FAFSA without submitting the application are temporarily unable to access their records due to an isolated technical issue. Students first experienced the issue on Friday, February 4, 2011 and we anticipate access will be restored no later than Sunday, February 13, 2011. No Personally Identifiable Information (PII) was compromised as a result of this error. All PII continues to be safe and secure.
We will contact affected students via email on Friday, February 11, 2011 to inform them of the situation and their options for completing the FAFSA; they may choose to immediately fill out a new application or they can access their saved application online beginning Sunday, February 13, 2011.
While we believe that this issue should not affect any state deadlines, applicants who believe they may have missed an institutional deadline due to this error are advised to contact their institution’s financial aid office. We are asking postsecondary institutions to accommodate these students by being flexible with any deadlines. We regret any difficulties this problem may have caused you or your students.
If you have any questions on this issue, please contact our Research and Customer Care Center staff at 1-800-433-7327, Monday through Friday between the hours of 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM (Eastern Time). After hours calls will be accepted by an automated voice response system and returned the next business day. You may also reach the Customer Care Center staff by e-mail at fsa.customer.support@ed.gov.