Federal Student Aid has published several updates related to how institutions should report the outcomes of students selected for V4/V5 and addresses a small error in how dependency question data is displayed on FAFSA records; this issue specifically impacts the Ward of the Court and Foster Youth statuses.
The agency also reminded financial aid offices about how they should review students who indicate that they are unaccompanied homeless youth, youth at-risk of homelessness, and students with unusual circumstances starting in 2023-24.
Read the full announcement below.
POSTED DATE: May 23, 2024
AUTHOR: Federal Student Aid
ELECTRONIC ANNOUNCEMENT ID: GENERAL-24-63
SUBJECT: 2024–25 Processing Timeframes Associated with Reporting V4/V5 Outcomes and Unusual Circumstances and Homeless Youth Determinations, and Update on ISIR Values for Ward of Court and Foster Youth Status
This Electronic Announcement reminds institutions of required timeframes associated with reporting verification tracking group V4/V5 results and unusual circumstances and homeless youth determinations for the 2024–25 award year, as well as current Department system limitations. We also are clarifying ISIRs with swapped response values for students that indicated ward of the court or foster youth status.
Reporting Verification Tracking Groups V4 and V5 Outcomes
Since the 2014–15 FAFSA processing year, institutions have been required to report the verification of identity results for students selected under the V4 or V5 verification tracking group. Prior to the 2024–25 award year, institutions provided these results via the FAA Access to CPS Online website. Beginning with the 2024–25 award year, institutions will now provide these results in the Verification of Identity function of the FAFSA Partner Portal (FPP). Institutions will enter school identifiers, the award year, and student identifiers, along with one of the following numeric codes:
- 1-Verification completed in person, no issues found
- 2-Verification completed remotely, no issues found
- 3-Verification attempted, issues found with identity (acceptable documentation not received)
- 5-No response from applicant or unable to locate
Note: Numeric codes 4 and 6 are reserved by the Department for future use.
The institution would normally be required to report these verification outcomes within 60 days of requesting documentation from the student and within 30 days of becoming aware of any changes that need to be resubmitted. Because the Verification of Identity function is not currently available in FPP, any V4 or V5 initial identity outcomes or changes must be made within 60 days or 30 days respectively of the normal timeframe requirement or when the FPP Verification of Identity function is made available, whichever is later.
For more information regarding reporting outcomes for verification tracking groups V4 and V5, please see the 2024–25 FSA Handbook, Application and Verification Guide, Chapter 4.
Unusual Circumstances and Homeless Youth Determinations
As part of the FAFSA Simplification Act (Act), starting in 2023–24, institutions are required to review all requests for a determination of independence, including unaccompanied homeless youth, youth at-risk of homelessness, and students with unusual circumstances, as quickly as practicable, but no later than 60 days after the student enrolls or within 60 days of the student making a request for a determination of independence.
The Department is aware that institutions may not be able to provide timely updated information regarding a student’s request for independent determination due to current system limitations with submitting institution-initiated corrections. Until institutional corrections are available, institutions should keep a record of their independent determinations, along with appropriate documentation and important dates (e.g., deadlines, decisions made, etc.). Once FAFSA processing allows institution-initiated corrections, we expect institutions to provide updates as quickly as appropriate based upon their individual circumstances – staffing, number of applications, system automation, etc.
Transposed Values for Ward of the Court and Foster Youth Fields on ISIRs
The Department recently became aware that dependency question data for Ward of the Court and Foster Youth status are displaying incorrectly on FAFSA records. The response values for the ward of the court and foster youth questions are switched on production ISIRs. However, the response values are shown correctly when viewed in the FAFSA Partner Portal (FPP). Comment Code 285, which provides information on additional assistance programs for foster youth, also correctly appears on production ISIRs despite the switched values in the two fields.
Contact Information
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 “Policy Guidance.”