In this announcement, we inform the financial aid community of our plans to retire the myStudentAid mobile app this month due to low use. Students and parents will be able to access all of the mobile app’s functionality and more by visiting StudentAid.gov from their mobile device.
We launched the myStudentAid mobile app in October 2018 to provide students and families with another option to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA®) form. Since 2018, we have updated the mobile app multiple times to both add and enhance features, in the same way we enhanced features and functionality on StudentAid.gov.
However, customers have demonstrated that they prefer to go to StudentAid.gov on a mobile device rather than use the myStudentAid mobile app. Additionally, we see a continuing trend with students and parents visiting StudentAid.gov on a phone instead of a desktop computer. The website is mobile-responsive, so the site’s pages fit the screen size and shape of any device, including desktop or laptop computers and mobile devices (e.g., phones and tablets).
What Students Can Expect
Starting on June 30 when users open the app, they will see a message telling them the app is retired and no longer available. Depending on mobile app users’ automatic update settings, some users will need to download the June 30 mobile app update before the message appears.
Between June 30 and July 10, messaging in each app store will inform users the mobile app is retired and direct them to StudentAid.gov.
On July 10, we will remove the myStudentAid mobile app from app stores. Each app store’s process to retire an app varies. After July 10, Android users will see messaging in the Google Play app store indicating the app is retired. After July 10, iOS users will not see messaging in the Apple app store indicating the app is retired.
Federal Student Aid contact centers are prepared to assist mobile app users with questions.
Actions for Schools
Generally, there should be minimal impact to schools. However, if a school has references to the myStudentAid mobile app in printed or web-based material, it should remove those references completely or update them to refer only to StudentAid.gov.
We appreciate your support of Federal Student Aid’s focus on customer needs, priorities, and outcomes through ongoing evaluation of our technology, tools, and resources.