This announcement provides an overview of an upcoming Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) update that will adjust some users’ state and country code information in order to better align the FAFSA form and StudentAid.gov account systems. This update will also resolve a current known issue affecting users attempting to report their address within the U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico.
On Dec. 7, as part of a broader release of updates to the FAFSA form and account systems, some country fields will be adjusted so that state/province and country code combinations are consistent across Federal Student Aid’s (FSA’s) FAFSA form, account systems, and the FAFSA Partner Portal. The table below outlines the current guidance and what will change after Dec. 7.
|
Location |
Current Country/State Selection (Before Dec. 7) |
Future Country/State Selection (After Dec. 7) |
|
United States |
Country: United States State: Appropriate state |
Country: United States State: Appropriate state |
Freely Associated States
|
Country: Appropriate Freely Associated State (e.g. Federated States of Micronesia) State: No entry allowed |
Country: Appropriate Freely Associated State (e.g. Federated States of Micronesia) State: No entry allowed; will auto-populate (e.g. Federated States of Micronesia) |
|
U.S Territories
|
Country: Previously, users were able to select their territory (e.g., Puerto Rico, Guam) or United States as the country. On Oct. 29, FSA introduced an error that prevented users from selecting the territory or the United States as the country. FSA implemented a temporary workaround on Nov. 23 to allow users to enter US Minor Outlying Islands as the country. See below for more information. State: Appropriate territory |
Country: Users must select the United States as their country of residence. Any other country, including the territories or US Minor Outlying Islands will no longer be valid options. State: Appropriate territory
|
|
Canada |
Country: Canada State: Appropriate Canadian province (e.g. Yukon Territory) or Canada |
Country: Canada State: Appropriate Canadian province only |
|
Mexico |
Country: Mexico State: No entry currently allowed; this field is left blank. Previously, FSA allowed some users to enter Mexico as the state. |
Country: Mexico State: No entry will be allowed; this field will be grayed out. |
|
All other foreign countries |
Country: Appropriate Country Code (e.g. Andorra) State: No entry allowed. Previously, FSA allowed some users to enter Foreign Country as the state.
|
Country: Appropriate Country Code State: No entry will be allowed; this field will grayed out.
|
To reduce the impact on users, on Dec. 7, FSA will automatically update the country codes that do not currently align with the new implemented state/country combinations listed in the table above. Most users will not be required to take any action.
Some users who currently have “Canada” or “Foreign Country” listed as their state of residence will have to manually confirm their address in their StudentAid.gov account. These users will be prompted to update and confirm their mailing address when they next log in to their StudentAid.gov account. They will also receive an email by the end of December asking them to confirm their address information in their StudentAid.gov account settings. Additionally, please note the following implications for this subset of users:
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If a financial aid administrator makes a correction to an unrelated field in the FAFSA Partner Portal, the financial aid administrator will be prompted to update the student’s address if FSA or the student has not yet updated it.
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If a student has a contributor who has not resolved their mailing address information, that student will not be able to submit their application or a correction until the contributor has confirmed their mailing address in their StudentAid.gov account. Similarly, if a student or a second contributor has not resolved their mailing address information, a contributor will not be able to make a correction until they have confirmed their mailing address in their StudentAid.gov account.
On Oct. 29, FSA introduced an error that prevented users who select one of the U.S. territories (including Puerto Rico) as their state of residence from selecting the United States as their country on the 2025–26 and 2026–27 FAFSA forms. These users received an error and were unable to proceed in the form. In recent weeks, FSA communicated to stakeholders in Puerto Rico a temporary workaround advising applicants to select “U.S. Minor Outlying Islands” as their country of residence when selecting Puerto Rico as their state.
On Friday, Nov. 21, FSA deployed a temporary fix that now allows applicants and contributors to select “Puerto Rico” as their state of residence and “Puerto Rico” as their country of residence. Users may also continue to select “U.S. Minor Outlying Islands” during this temporary fix period. Once FSA implements the Dec. 7 release, users will be required to select “United States” once again.
Schools, partners, and stakeholders with questions about this update should contact the FPS Help Desk 1-800-330-5947 or by email at support@fps.ed.gov.