(GENERAL-24-94) Updates on 2024-25 FAFSA Paper Processing (Updated October 18, 2024)

This week, the Department is initiating the processing of paper FAFSA^® forms for the 2024-25 cycle. This announcement provides information about paper processing and an updated timeline for paper corrections. The Department has heard your feedback regarding the impact that the delays in the processing of paper forms has had on students, families, and institutions. This EA also includes information about flexibilities available during this challenging year.

To date, the Department has received approximately 34,000 unduplicated paper applications—0.3% of all submissions—25,000 of which are complete and will be processed. The remaining unduplicated forms will require additional information prior to processing and are being returned to applicants with instructions on how to complete their form and resubmit.

The Department anticipates that the processing of paper forms will be complete within two to three weeks. Students who applied via the paper form can view their form’s status and view their online FAFSA Submission Summary after the form has been processed by navigating to StudentAid.gov and first creating an account username and password (FSA ID).

If the student provided a valid email address on the form, they will receive an email when their FAFSA Submission Summary is available to view on StudentAid.gov. If the student did not provide an email address, they will receive a paper FAFSA Submission Summary in the mail. The Department is currently finalizing development of the initial printed FAFSA Submission Summary functionality; once implementation is complete, a student will be mailed a printed FAFSA Submission Summary 7-10 days after their form is processed. Students that are identified as incarcerated will receive both a paper FAFSA Submission Summary and an email notification (if there is a valid email address on the form) that their form was processed. The Department will provide additional guidance about how to access subsequent paper FAFSA Submission Summaries.

The Department previously announced in an Electronic Announcement (GENERAL 24-72) that paper corrections will be available in the first half of August. Given the delays in paper processing, we are now anticipating that paper corrections will be available at the end of September. Applicants and contributors can make corrections to processed paper forms online, and we encourage them to do so when possible.

In addition, FAAs can make online corrections to applicants’ processed paper forms. However, the FAFSA Simplification Act requires consent and approval to have federal tax information transferred and used, which prohibits schools from submitting a signature on behalf of a student or their contributors. Institutions are also prevented from submitting a paper FAFSA form into the processing system.

In addition, FAAs cannot update personally identifiable information (PII) attached to a StudentAid.gov account due to restrictions with how FSA systems exchange information. This means that representatives cannot make a correction to the PII associated with an individual’s account on their behalf, even with the consent of the respective student or contributor. Instead, the student or the contributor must correct their personal information if it is incorrect.

The Department recognizes that, due to the delay in the processing of paper applications and the delay in the launch of the paper corrections functionality, schools may not have an Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) or an official ISIR to award and disburse Title IV funds to students who cannot access the online FAFSA form. The Department is providing or extending several flexibilities to allow institutions to disburse aid and is exploring additional ways to support institutions and students until paper corrections are available.

In a May 10 Electronic Announcement (GENERAL 24-56), the Department indicated that, for the 2024-25 award year, schools that receive funds under the Advance funding method will receive an initial Current Funding Level (CFL) for the Pell Grant Program to assist with summer disbursements. Schools will continue to receive an initial CFL for the Direct Loan Program, and that process is not expected to change.

In recent years, institutions were required to report disbursements no later than 15 calendar days after the institution makes a disbursement. On May 10, 2024, the Department announced that institutions will not be required to report disbursements made for the 2024-25 award year until 30 days after the date that school corrections become available, and on May 22, we further clarified that this flexibility extends until 30 days after batch corrections functionality. Given the deferral of batch corrections to the 2025-26 FAFSA cycle, the delay in paper corrections functionality, and that schools may need additional time to process institutional corrections in FPP, institutions will not be required to report disbursements made for the 2024-25 award year until November 30 or 15 calendar days after the disbursement is made, whichever is later. Please note: COD warning edits 054 and 055, which warn institutions of late reporting of disbursements, and system-generated correspondence for unsubstantiated funds are not applicable if reporting is delayed due to the listed conditions and is within these updated reporting requirements. 

The Department continues to encourage schools to use the capabilities available in their internal systems to provide disbursements to students based on estimated SAI amounts, as outlined on May 10.

The Department is aware that there may be instances in which Federal Pell Grant-eligible students completed a paper FAFSA form, enrolled only for the summer term at a college or career school where summer is treated as the beginning of the 2024-25 award year (i.e., a header school), and completed their enrollment before their paper FAFSA form was processed. A school that receives an ISIR for a student who is no longer enrolled but whose Application Receipt Date was prior to the end of the student’s enrollment and who would have otherwise been eligible to receive a Pell Grant disbursement may still award and disburse the funds, subject to normal late disbursement requirements.

The Department previously released guidance on the origination of summer-only Direct Loans prior to the availability of batch corrections. A Direct Loan that cannot be originated during a summer term before the otherwise eligible student borrower ceases to be enrolled due to a delay in paper processing may, similar to the Pell Grant guidance above, be originated and disbursed if all appropriate conditions are otherwise met. For these students, the school may consider the student’s Application Receipt Date to be the date the application was processed for purposes of the late disbursement requirements.

A school may, for a student whose FAFSA requires a correction after the student’s paper FAFSA is processed and the initial ISIR transaction is received, opt to make an interim disbursement until corrections to paper FAFSA forms become available. The school may also choose to wait for paper corrections to become available to make a disbursement of the summer 2024 funds. For more information on interim disbursement rules, please see the Volume 4 Chapter 2 of the Federal Student Aid Handbook.

This flexibility is only extended to the summer 2024 term if the term is treated by the school as the beginning of the 2024-25 award year.

Any questions about this announcement should be sent through the Contact Customer Support form link in Federal Student Aid’s Help Center. When submitting a question, please enter your name, email address, IHE, topic, and question. When selecting a topic, please select “2024-25 FAFSA.”