Who We Are
Federal Student Aid (FSA), an office of the U.S. Department of Education, is the largest provider of student financial aid in the nation. At FSA, our more than 1,300 employees help make college education possible for more than 13 million students each year.
What We Do
FSA is responsible for managing the student financial assistance programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. These programs provide grant, work-study, and loan funds to students attending college or career school.
We ensure students and their families can benefit from these programs by
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informing students and families about the availability of the federal student aid programs and the process for applying for and receiving aid from those programs;
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developing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form and processing approximately 20 million FAFSA submissions each year;
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accurately disbursing, reconciling, and accounting for all federal student aid funds that are delivered to students each year through more than 6,000 colleges and career schools;
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managing the outstanding federal student loan portfolio and securing repayment from federal student loan borrowers;
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offering free assistance to students, parents, and borrowers throughout the entire financial aid process; and
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providing oversight and monitoring of all program participants—schools, financial entities, and students—to ensure compliance with the laws, regulations, and policies governing the federal student aid programs.
Features of FSA Partner Connect
Below are the different features of the FSA Partner Connect Portal. As new functionality is added to the site, this list will be updated.
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Knowledge Center: Repository of articles about the administration of Title IV federal student aid
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Federal Student Aid Handbook: Web-based, searchable version of the handbook
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Training: Information about training and links to important training sites
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Financial Aid Delivery: Information about the financial aid delivery process as well as links to sites to complete related tasks
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Title IV Program Eligibility: Information about how schools can apply and maintain Title IV program eligibility as well as links to various sites to complete tasks in the eligibility process
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Dashboard: A quick, top-level overview of an organization’s current operational status with call outs for the most important information
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Student, Parent, Borrower Accounts: Simplified search functionality to access information about a student, parent, or borrower easily
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Partner Search: Provides the ability to search and view information about a school and Third-Party Servicers
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Cybersecurity Form: A new intake form for submitting Cybersecurity breaches.
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Reports: Contains the Weekly School File, Weekly Institutional Updates, Weekly Closed School Search File, Monthly Closed School Reports, and School File Repository.
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Eligibility Application: Postsecondary institutions use the Application for Approval to Participate in the Federal Student Financial Aid Programs (E-App) to apply for designation as an eligible institution, initial participation, recertification, reinstatement, change in ownership, to update a current approval, or report information.
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Third-Party Servicers Inquiry Form: An OMB approved data collection tool utilized to obtain information needed to validate third-party servicer information reported to the Department by institutions.
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School Closure Form: A school may now submit a notice of their closure via the School Closure webform on Partner Connect.
Additional Resources
We encourage you to visit the following resources to better understand FSA’s role in funding education beyond high school.
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Strategic Planning and Reporting: Review our strategic plans and annual performance reports.
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Data Center: Access the latest data relating to our programs.
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Contracting Information: Learn how you can do business with us.
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Employment Opportunities: Explore career opportunities with us.
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Contact Customer Support: Submit questions or feedback about your experience with FSA Partner Connect.