The National College Attainment Network (NCAN) is sharing this information that we know is of the highest interest to member programs supporting students with Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) contributors without Social Security numbers
(SSNs) who have been stuck in the identity verification process. We know this comes very late in the cycle but hope it brings some much-needed relief to those students and parents who have been doing everything in their power to complete a FAFSA.
As always, please send your questions to us as we continue to advocate for equity in FAFSA completion. Thank you for your persistence and unwavering support for all students!
The US Department of Education (ED) announced yesterday changes to its systems to allow applicants and contributors without a SSN to immediately access the online 2024-25 FAFSA form after creating a StudentAid.gov account. ED is temporarily allowing individuals without an SSN to enter and complete the 2024-25 FAFSA. Students and contributors without an SSN must continue to manually enter their tax information.
What this means for applicants and their families:
Individuals who are currently awaiting the results of the identity validation process may begin using the StudentAid.gov account they created to immediately access the form. ED will also email these individuals to notify them if they
are affected by this change.
New users who request a StudentAid.gov account and cannot validate their identity using the knowledge-based questions (as generated by TransUnion) must still complete the manual process to validate their identity. However, they will not have to wait
to have their identity validation completed before they can use their account username and password to access and complete the online 2024-25 FAFSA form.
Individuals can check the status of their identity validation on their StudentAid.gov dashboard. If the status on the “Personal Information” page of their Account Settings is “no-SSN” with a green check icon, individuals are able to progress to the
FAFSA form. Please note that this status is the same for those who have completed the validation process and those who are temporarily allowed to enter and complete the form. Individuals will receive an email this week if they fall in the latter
category.
Individuals who are currently waiting for results from ED do not need to resubmit any documentation to complete the identity validation process.
ED is aware that there has been some erroneous information posted on public sites regarding the identity validation process, creating confusion for some individuals on where to submit documents and how to start the process. Official guidance for completing the
identity validation process for those without an SSN can be found on StudentAid.gov. If an individual’s StudentAid.gov account does not show a status of “no-SSN” with a green check icon and they have not received an email notifying
them of this temporary change, they will need to follow the instructions for individuals without an SSN to create a StudentAid.gov account, as they are not currently in ED's system.
ED encourages all users without an SSN to complete the identity validation process without delay, even after the student’s FAFSA form is submitted. They must complete the validation process before the beginning of the 2025-26 application cycle, and
before the IRS data exchange issues are addressed, to avoid their account being placed in a restricted status.
Undocumented students and students who have received Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) remain ineligible for federal student aid. To receive federal student aid, a student must be a US citizen or national, a citizen of the Freely Associated
States, or a lawful US permanent resident or other eligible noncitizen.
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