(GENERAL-24-84) NSLDS Post-screening & Additional Identity Verification for the 2024–25 Cycle (Updated January 10, 2025)

This announcement provides additional guidance and optional tools schools and vendors may use pending the full implementation of the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) post-screening and identity verification processes for the 2024-25 cycle. As originally announced in Electronic Announcement (EA) GENERAL-24-72, these processes will not be available until later in the calendar year.

The NSLDS post-screening process is a weekly eligibility status check for students and PLUS Loan borrowers who have filed a FAFSA form or submitted an Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) correction. This additional post-screening check ensures that schools and students have the latest and most accurate eligibility information for making final financial aid award determinations. The NSLDS post-screening process informs the FAFSA Processing System (FPS) of any changes to NSLDS data since the previous ISIR transaction was generated. If there are changes to the data that may impact a student’s eligibility, a new ISIR is generated with a valid NSLDS Post-screening Reason Code (Field 561). Schools must review and resolve these reason codes to determine the student’s final eligibility for Title IV funds. As the Department continues to deploy the massive overhaul of our systems, FPS will not generate ISIRs for applicants with updated information based on NSLDS post screening until later this year. The Department will announce when this function is available, including new ISIRs based on these post screenings, is available.

For additional information on interpreting NSLDS information on the ISIR, see Volume 4, Record Layouts and Processing Codes, of the FAFSA Specifications Guide.

Prior to the availability of the NSLDS post-screening process, schools or their third-party servicers can request batch Financial Aid History (FAH) reports for any applicant or review individual student NSLDS records through the NSLDS website. Doing so can assist with award determinations because the FAH output response will include aggregate loan limits, overpayments, and other details for Title IV grants and loans. To request a student’s financial aid history from NSLDS, schools can indicate their request by selecting “H” (for FAH only) in the “Request Indicator” field of the combined Transfer Student Monitoring (TSM)/Financial Aid History (FAH) Batch Inform File. Please refer to the NSLDS Transfer Student Monitoring & Financial Aid History User Guide and Record Layouts for additional guidance on creating the TSM/FAH Batch Inform File and interpreting the response file. Please note that the information obtained from NSLDS meets the regulatory requirements for purposes of determining a student’s eligibility for Title IV funds.

The Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system also offers several features to assist schools with confirming applicants’ Pell Grant eligibility.

Additional information about the COD system’s report and edit features can found in Volume 6, Section 6 and Volume 2, Section 4, respectively, in the 2024-25 COD Technical Reference.

In typical award years, schools may receive a small number of subsequent ISIRs that are selected for verification due to flags for possible fraudulent activity. In these situations, schools must take action by completing the V4 or V5 verification process, to verify the student’s identity and determine their eligibility for Title IV funds. In Electronic Announcement (GENERAL-24-11) the U.S. Department of Education announced that it would be significantly reducing verification requirements, while continuing key measures focused on avoiding identity fraud. However, because the identity verification selection process for potential fraud is also delayed, subsequent ISIRs with applicable Verification Tracking flags will not be available to schools until later in the calendar year. To mitigate the possibility of awarding and disbursing aid to individuals who are suspected of identity fraud for the 2024-25 Award Year, a report containing the list of students who should undergo identity verification will be sent to an institution’s FTI mailbox. A new SAIG message class, AHSI25OP, has been created to identify this report. Schools may use this file—which will be delivered to SAIG mailboxes every two weeks starting the week of July 15th—to identify applicants and request acceptable documentation to complete V4 or V5 verification.

The file format is comma separated, with the following data elements:

Once NSLDS post-screening becomes available later this year, institutions will receive a system generated ISIR if any changes are identified that may impact a student’s eligibility. For example, an increase in a borrower’s loan amounts may cause them to exceed their aggregate loan limits. If, for example, an institution awards aid to a borrower and subsequently receives an updated 2024-25 ISIR indicating that the borrower is now exceeding their loan limit, the institution must adjust the student’s financial aid package to comply with Title IV requirements. If the institution disbursed aid for a student, and their eligibility for Title IV funds is subsequently reduced and creates an overpayment, the school must resolve the overpayment. Additional information regarding a school’s responsibility for resolving overpayments can be found in Volume 4, Chapter 3 of the Federal Student Aid Handbook. As a reminder, new regulations, under §668.14(b)(33), that take effect July 1 state that schools cannot take a negative action against a student for a balance that resulted from an error made by the institution in the administration of the Title IV programs, or any fraud or misconduct by the institution or its personnel.

For questions related to NSLDS functions referenced in this Electronic Announcement, contact the NSLDS Customer Support Center at 1-800-999-8219 or nslds@ed.gov. For questions related to COD resources and reports, contact the FSA Partner and School Relations Center at 800-848-0978 or CODSupport@ed.gov.

Additional questions or concerns about the information in this announcement can be submitted using the Contact Customer Support form in Federal Student Aid’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 announcement, please select the topic “2024-25 FAFSA.”