(GENERAL-24-34) Reprocessing ISIRs with Known Data Issues and Resolution of Access Issues for Students who have Required Contributors without Social Security Numbers (Updated April 4, 2024)

This Electronic Announcement updates the Department’s plans to reprocess Institutional Student Information Record (ISIRs) affected by issues outlined in an April 1 Electronic Announcement (GENERAL-24-29) and provides details on the resolution of known issues accessing the FAFSA form for students with contributors without a Social Security number (SSN). Our goal is to allow schools to use the information provided to package financial aid offers as soon as possible so that students receive the financial aid they need to make important education decisions.

At the request of schools and higher education stakeholders, the Department will reprocess all records impacted by the April 1 announcement – as well as other previously identified issues including records for which students’ contributions from assets were calculated incorrectly – rather than require schools to specifically request which records are to be reprocessed. We expect to begin reprocessing impacted FAFSA records in the first half of April. Schools and state agencies will receive a subsequent ISIR transaction for each reprocessed record. Schools and states will still have the ability to use their judgment to rely on the original ISIR sent—not the reprocessed record—if the original ISIR results in greater financial aid eligibility for students.

Today, as outlined in an April 3 Electronic Announcement (GENERAL-24-31), the Department will provide two lists of the student records to institutions and states. We will send a list of Universally Unique Identification Numbers (UUIDs) of records that are unaffected by known errors, as well as a UUID list of those that are affected by known errors and therefore the Department intends to reprocess. Instructions to retrieve the encrypted CSV file containing these lists will be sent directly to institutions via 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). The decryption key (password) to access this file was sent on April 3, and both emails will come from COO.Rich.Cordray@ed.gov. Additional information about using the CSV file and working with the data through an open-source tool is included in the April 3 announcement.

In the coming days, the Department will send additional data to SAIG mailboxes to assist schools and states with analyzing affected records. The data will be school- or state-specific and will identify the known issue on each record that triggered reprocessing.

The Department has implemented a solution to resolve an error received by some applicants when they invited a contributor without an SSN to participate in the online FAFSA form. As detailed in a March 12, 2024 Electronic Announcement, this error occurred due to a mismatch of personally identifiable information (PII) that is entered on the invitation compared to the PII attached to the contributor’s StudentAid.gov account or when the person sending the invitation to participate in the FAFSA form sends multiple invitations, often with different variations of PII.

The Department has implemented a daily process that will archive duplicate contributor StudentAid.gov accounts. With this update, all applicants who previously experienced challenges inviting their non-SSN contributor to their form may now do so. It is important to note that applicants can still encounter the issue if they again enter inaccurate information on a contributor’s invitation or send multiple invitations to the same contributor, resulting in duplicate accounts. If an applicant encounters this issue, they will see messaging on the invitation page that notes “An Error Has Occurred”. Applicants will then need to wait until the next day, after the nightly data cleanup process is completed, to add their contributor again.

The Department has updated messaging on StudentAid.gov to notify students and families that the issue has been resolved, and provided refreshed guidance for students who have a contributor without an SSN. These applicants should follow the updated instructions for submitting a FAFSA form to ensure they do not receive additional error messages. We also remind applicants and their families of some best practices for ensuring they do not encounter other issues and may successfully complete the 2024-25 FAFSA form.

We will post an update to the Issues Alert section of the 2024-25 FAFSA Updates page to reflect the updates noted in this announcement.