By Catherine Brown, Senior Director, Policy and Advocacy, and MorraLee Keller, Senior Director, Strategic Programming
Reading time: Four minutes
Now that the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) has announced a December 1 launch date for the 2025-26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and released the 2025-26
Student Aid Index and Pell Guide, planning for the coming
award year is in full swing! Through conversations with the National College Attainment Network’s (NCAN) FAFSA Expert Group, state policy leaders, and staff, we have surfaced seven key priorities for the coming cycle:
Reinstate weekend hours and add greater capacity to the call center. NCAN is a bit of a broken record on this issue, but unfortunately, it remains unresolved. When students or their contributors contact the
FSA Information Center, they should be able to reach an operator who can address their concerns. That means having operators who can correct inaccurate Social Security Numbers (SSNs) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers that were entered
during an attempt to set up an FSA ID, walking students or contributors through needed workarounds, and/or speaking the language needed. Recently FSA announced that the agency was ending weekend hours, a move that runs counter to providing the one-on-one support needed to help all students complete their FAFSAs. FSA should expand call center availability to seven days a week, ensure that the staff is highly
trained, and make sure that there are bi-lingual operators or interpreters available for those who do not speak English.
Resolve all known issues. While the 2024-25
form is working for most students, there are still 23 known issues listed on the FSA Knowledge Center. As
a result, students are still having to use a lot of unintuitive workarounds to complete the form. By the time the form opens widely on December 1, all workarounds and known issues listed on the Knowledge Center should be resolved.
Streamline the FSA ID process. While FSA has
announced that contributors without SSNs will not have to complete the identity verification process to submit
a FAFSA, it’s still critical that the agency address the ongoing problems with this process. People without SSNs currently must manually enter their tax information, which is a cumbersome process. NCAN would like to see the FSA ID process function
smoothly so that everyone can complete it efficiently and have their tax information imported directly from the IRS. Fixing the FSA ID process requires creating an online attestation form and procuring a vendor to develop a portal that allows contributors
without SSNs to upload their proof of identity. The identity verification backlog should be cleared by the end of the 2024 calendar year. Developing an online attestation form and procuring a vendor to develop a portal are the first essential steps
to meeting that goal and developing a functioning FSA ID process for people without SSNs.
Restart batch corrections. Batch corrections
enable postsecondary institutions to efficiently input the corrected information needed to generate accurate Institutional Student Record Information or ISIRs, which are a precondition of disbursing federal student aid and loans. Without accurate
ISIRs, colleges and universities would be liable for any financial aid they disbursed, even if they calculated the award using guidance and workarounds from FSA. Large public colleges and universities and those serving significant populations of students
from low-income households cannot afford to take that financial risk. NCAN urges FSA to make batch corrections available to schools as soon as possible.
Address remaining issues in contributor matching process. Students trying to invite their parents or spouse to contribute to the FAFSA, and vice versa, still face a lot of challenges getting through this process. NCAN staff regularly hear reports of contributors not receiving the emails inviting them to
contribute and others receiving notification that the form has already been submitted even though the contributors have not been able to access it and bring over their tax information. Contributors also find themselves not matched with the student's
FAFSA when they log in, despite having received the email invitation. It’s imperative that this process works smoothly prior to the December 1 public launch.
Release the Roadmap. NCAN members rely on the
Roadmap to provide a timeline for the release of key resources for training counselors and supporting students.
The Roadmap should confirm that the FAFSA Prototype, with updated 2025-26 questions, formulas, and scenarios to use for training purposes; screenshots that can be used for training purposes; the Financial Aid Estimator to 2025-26, with all appropriate
questions and tables to calculate the SAI accurately; and a simplified Pell Look-Up Table, will be available in September.
Begin processing paper forms immediately upon launch. Students who are incarcerated or otherwise unable to complete an online form should not have to wait for their FAFSAs to be processed. Unlike last year, contributors who do not have SSNs will not be held up by the FSA ID process, and as a result,
many fewer applicants will submit paper FAFSAs. This decrease in the volume should make it easier for FSA to start processing paper FAFSAs at the same time as the online forms.
By taking these seven steps, FSA will ensure that the students and families will be well-positioned to have a smooth and successful year applying for federal student aid.
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Reinstate weekend hours and add greater capacity to the call center. NCAN is a bit of a 
Resolve all known issues. While the 2024-25
form is working for most students, there are still 23 
Streamline the FSA ID process. While FSA has
Restart batch corrections. Batch corrections
enable postsecondary institutions to efficiently input the corrected information needed to generate accurate Institutional Student Record Information or ISIRs, which are a precondition of disbursing federal student aid and loans. Without accurate
ISIRs, colleges and universities would be liable for any financial aid they disbursed, even if they calculated the award using guidance and workarounds from FSA. Large public colleges and universities and those serving significant populations of students
from low-income households cannot afford to take that financial risk. NCAN urges FSA to make batch corrections available to schools as soon as possible.
Address remaining issues in contributor matching process. Students trying to invite their parents or spouse to contribute to the FAFSA, and vice versa, still face a lot of challenges getting through this process. NCAN staff regularly hear reports of contributors not receiving the emails inviting them to
contribute and others receiving notification that the form has already been submitted even though the contributors have not been able to access it and bring over their tax information. Contributors also find themselves not matched with the student's
FAFSA when they log in, despite having received the email invitation. It’s imperative that this process works smoothly prior to the December 1 public launch.
Release the Roadmap. NCAN members rely on the
Begin processing paper forms immediately upon launch. Students who are incarcerated or otherwise unable to complete an online form should not have to wait for their FAFSAs to be processed. Unlike last year, contributors who do not have SSNs will not be held up by the FSA ID process, and as a result,
many fewer applicants will submit paper FAFSAs. This decrease in the volume should make it easier for FSA to start processing paper FAFSAs at the same time as the online forms.