College App Kickoff 2023 - Videos 

• Considering Out-of-State Options with Molly Ingram of the University of Arizona 

• So You Want To Be in Healthcare? Nursing, Pre-Med, and more! with  Rachel Adelman of Saint Louis University

• What Colleges Look For with Corinne Schell of Marist College

•  Understanding a CSU System with Faby Rangel-Camacho of San Jose State University

• Creating the Common App Essay with Mandie Corcoran of Elon University

• Understanding the UCs & Personal Insight Questions with Sabrina Williams of UC Los Angeles 

NCAN is sharing this information that we know is of the highest interest to member programs supporting students with FAFSA contributors without Social Security numbers 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. Please read below and online for more details. 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 released an electronic announcement today announcing changes to its systems to allow applicants and contributors without a Social Security number (SSN) to immediately access the online 2024-25 FAFSA form after creating a StudentAid.gov account. The Department 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. The Department 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 the Department do not need to resubmit any documentation to complete the identity validation process. 

• The Department 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 the Department’s system. 

• The Department 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 U.S. citizen or U.S. national, a citizen of the Freely Associated States, or a lawful U.S. permanent resident or other eligible noncitizen. 

• The US Dept. of Ed. announced last week students would be able to make corrections to their FAFSAs starting 4/15/24. Also included in the announcement was news that FSA would begin reprocessing forms with errors within the month.

CADAA for FAFSA Filers

• First time applicants struggling to complete the FAFSA due to having a contributor who does not have an SSN are now able to complete the CADAA to receive state aid and lock in a submission deadline before May 2nd (with the understanding that students will need to complete the FAFSA later on, and complete a conversion G-55 form - used to reprocess a student for a Cal Grant, Chafee Grant, or Middle Class Scholarship using the correct financial aid application, FAFSA CADAA).

• CSAC is aware current/returning students from mixed-status families are also experiencing issues submitting a FAFSA, and are working towards a fix that would allow them to submit a CADAA as well.

• Please sign up for CSAC's non-SSN contributor email list to receive updates. 

• Existing non-SSN contributor webinars will educate students and families about all available options.

• For more information visit the CSAC webpage for CADAA for Mixed Status Families. 

• Also see attached flyer/one-pager on CADAA for FAFSA Filers

• 2024-2025 FAFSA Line-by-Line (provided by Cal-SOAP Sacramento)

• NCAN Webinar: Better FAFSA: One Month Out, What We Know Now (notes taken by San Jose Cal-SOAP)

  • Please make special note of updates surrounding paper FAFSA forms (they will be processed AFTER online FAFSA forms), ITINs not being allowed in place of SSN on FSA ID form, and other issues/resolutions.

• uAspire's Youtube channel with FAFSA updates & short/easy "how to" videos: www.youtube.com/@uaspire3600

Parent Contributor Non-SSN Workarounds to Verify Identity:

As many know, one of the glitches on this year’s FAFSA affected students whose parents do not have an SSN. When a parent would try to create an account, they would receive an error message and wouldn’t be able to create an FSA ID, therefore, parents were left unable to sign on behalf of their students. The FSA recognized this glitch but still does not have a solution posted, which can be very discouraging for students and their families.

Our partners at Sierra College have found a work-around, and students and parents who have tried it have successfully created an account. Here’s what students and parents should do:

Request a manual verification (MANVER Case Number) using the Live Chat support on the FAFSA website. The parent should be present when making this request, as they will need to submit documentation to verify their identity. Be aware:

• Sometimes the Live Chat is available, and sometimes it’s not. 

• Mornings are always better when trying to reach FAFSA support. 

• Students may need to keep trying at different times. 

• The entire process can take some time (1 hours +)

Please see the documents below for additional information/instructions:

• 5 Step Parent Contributor Non-SSN Work Around to Verify Identity

• Non-SSN Contributor Workaround for ID Verification (shared by Cal-SOAP Sac)

• FAFSA Glitch Solution - Parents without SSN’s are unable to create an FSA ID and sign for their students

• Attestation & Validation of Identity