Section 483 of the Higher Education
Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), mandates that the Secretary of
Education “…shall produce, distribute, and process free of charge
common financial reporting forms as described in this subsection to
be used for application and reapplication to determine the need and
eligibility of a student for financial assistance...”. The
determination of need and eligibility are for the following Title
IV, HEA, federal student financial assistance programs: the Federal
Pell Grant Program; the Campus-Based programs (Federal Supplemental
Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) and Federal Work-Study
(FWS)); the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan)
Program; the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher
Education (TEACH) Grant; and the Children of Fallen Heroes
Scholarship. Federal Student Aid (FSA), an office of the U.S.
Department of Education (the Department), subsequently developed an
application process to collect and process the data necessary to
determine a student’s eligibility to receive Title IV, HEA program
assistance. The application process involves an applicant’s
submission of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
(FAFSA®). After submission and processing of the FAFSA form, an
applicant receives a FAFSA Submission Summary, which is a summary
of the processed data they submitted on the FAFSA form. The
applicant reviews the summary, and, if necessary, will make
corrections or updates to their submitted FAFSA data. Institutions
of higher education listed by the applicant on the FAFSA form also
receive a summary of processed data submitted on the FAFSA form,
which is called the Institutional Student Information Record
(ISIR). The specific questions that applicants are asked to answer
in the application process are described separately in the Data
Elements and Justification document. The document identifies the
data elements associated with each FAFSA question and provides the
justification for including each question on the FAFSA form. In
addition to the calculation of financial need for the various Title
IV programs, the FAFSA form also collects data that allows for a
determination of an applicant’s eligibility for state and
institutional financial aid programs. If these data elements were
not collected, the Department and institutions of higher education
would be unable to make a determination of financial need and
subsequently would be unable to award any Title IV, HEA program
assistance, as mandated by the HEA. Many states would also be
greatly hindered in their calculation of state aid to applicants.
This is a request for revisions of a current information
collection, and important changes to the FAFSA form are described
separately in the 2026-27 Summary of Enhancements
document.
The OBBBA was signed
into law on July 4, 2025. The Act made changes to the FAFSA for the
2026-27 award year. The Department would not have been able to make
these changes prior to the enactment of the OBBBA. Because of this,
obtaining full OMB clearance to use the most accurate version of
the FAFSA prior to FAFSA beta testing and FAFSA launch would not be
possible. The FAFSA form is scheduled to be launched by October
1,2025 for the 2026-2027 award year. Without emergency review of an
updated FAFSA form, beta testing and the launch of the FAFSA would
be delayed. This means that students would not be able to complete
a FAFSA form to determine eligibility for federal student aid.
Institutions of higher education would not be able to package aid
for their students until their students’ FAFSA forms have been
processed. These delays would cause the FAFSA form to not be
available to the public on time. Applicants and schools rely on the
on-time launch of the FAFSA form each year. Delays could impact
institutional enrollment projections, student enrollment, and
student decisions to apply for federal student aid.
US Code:
20
USC 1090 Name of Law: Higher Education Act of 1965, as
amended
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
2026-2027 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
1845-0001 2026-2027 Supporting Statement Part A.docx
2026-2027 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)