Note
Update on April 1, 2024: We have published FAFSA Fast News, a new blog on the Federal Student Aid (FSA) website dedicated to the implementation of the Better FAFSA. On our FAFSA Fast News blog, you will hear directly from different voices across the U.S. Department of Education and FSA as part of our commitment to providing the most up-to-date information.
Each time we publish FAFSA Fast News, we will inform you. In addition, you can bookmark the page and check it periodically.
Update on March 30, 2024: We have worked closely with IRS to assess the reports concerning incorrect tax data sent to schools on the Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) for 2024-25 FAFSA applications. Our initial analysis shows that fewer than 20% of applications are affected by one of the following issues:
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Some data fields are pulled from a mix of updated and original returns leading to inconsistent tax data.
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Education tax credit data field is inaccurate.
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For manually entered tax information, inaccurate reported values for education tax credits and income taxes paid, due to discrepancies in the instructions.
We will provide detailed information about the identification of affected students and remediation plans for these issues on Monday, April 1, 2024, including how to continue processing the majority of applications that have been successfully sent. We recognize how important it is for schools and families to have the information they need to package and receive aid offers. Accordingly, we will continue our joint efforts with IRS to resolve these issues and implement updates to resolve data inaccuracies as expeditiously as possible.
We are aware of reports concerning tax data provided on the Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) for 2024-25 FAFSA applications. We have been in touch with schools that have raised this issue directly with the Department. The Department and IRS are working together to assess the reports and determine if this affects a subset of submitted applications, and if there are system issues in need of resolution. Based on the reports raised, we believe these issues would not affect the significant majority of all previously submitted applications.
In collaboration with the IRS, we will determine the scope, impact, and remedy for any potential issues identified.
We will keep the financial aid community informed of the status related to these reports and provide states, schools, and other stakeholders with any further guidance as quickly as possible once we have more information.
We appreciate your patience as we complete our assessment.