Update on April 3, 2024: Early today, we announced our plan to send a comprehensive list of Universally Unique Identification Numbers (UUIDs) directly to institutions in the coming days. We explained that the list would identify student records that are unaffected by known errors.
This update is to inform partners that, based on feedback, we will send two lists. We will send the "Records Unaffected by Known Errors" list in CSV format described below and a separate "Records Affected by Known Errors" list in CSV format to all Destination Point Administrators (DPAs) who currently manage the ISIR service at their organization. Both files will contain UUIDs on all FAFSA records and will not be specific to a state or institution.
Please refer below for the details about how we will share both encrypted files with DPAs and the open-source search tool that may be used to look up FAFSA UUIDs.
On April 1, 2024, we published Electronic Announcement (GENERAL-24-29) which provides detailed information about the issues identified with tax data provided on Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) for 2024–25 FAFSA® forms.
This Electronic Announcement provides information regarding the comprehensive list of Universally Unique Identification Numbers (UUIDs) that the Department is building and will send directly to institutions in the coming days. This list will identify the student records that are unaffected by known errors. Schools and state agencies may reference the UUID list to identify the students for whom they have accurate information on which to base aid calculations and offers.
We will begin sending the decryption key (password) over the next two days, followed by the full list of unaffected records. We will follow up with an update once we begin sending the full list of unaffected records.
To share this file, we will send two emails to all Destination Point Administrators (DPAs) who currently manage the ISIR service at their organization (i.e., the owner of the SAIG mailbox that receives ISIRs). One email will include instructions to retrieve an encrypted CSV file of 2024–25 FAFSA records clear of any currently known issues. This file contains UUIDs on all FAFSA records and is not specific to a state or institution. The other email will contain the decryption key. You will receive this email first. Both emails will come from COO.Rich.Cordray@ed.gov.
The CSV file will be formatted as follows:
The UUID provided in the file is the FAFSA UUID (ISIR field 2), as opposed to the Transaction UUID or student Person UUID (ISIR fields 3 and 4). This is the column labeled “FAFSA_UUID.”
Note: The file length exceeds the row limit for Excel, so opening the file in Excel will result in data truncation and is not recommended. Please ensure that any software used to open the file can handle a file of this size.
You can work with the file directly using the software of your choice; this can be as simple as using the find tool in a suitable text editor. However, some schools may opt instead to use the browser-based tool publicly available in the U.S. Department of Education GitHub repository. The first version of this open-source tool allows users to search by FAFSA UUID to determine if the FAFSA record is clear of any known issue.
Instructions on how to download and use this tool are on the GitHub repository. Once downloaded, this tool can be opened in any web browser and does not require a connection to the Internet.
Please join us today, April 3, 2024 from 3 until 4 p.m. Eastern time (ET) for our 2024-25 FAFSA: Tax Data Discrepancy and School Support webinar. In this webinar, we will discuss the tax data discrepancies and review the support available to schools to identify and process unimpacted applications. No registration is required, and you can directly access today’s 3 p.m. ET webinar at Microsoft Teams Live Link.
You may refer additional questions to the Department using the Contact Customer Support form in FSA’s Partner Connect Help Center. To submit a question, please enter your name, email address, topic, and question. When submitting a question related to this Electronic Announcement, please select the topic “2024-25 FAFSA.”