"The Free Application for Federal Student Aid will get a slate of user-experience improvements this summer, including updates to how parents without Social Security numbers input information and an expedited turnaround of aid info after the form is submitted," Inside Higher Ed reports.

... "Karen McCarthy, vice president of public policy and federal relations with the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, noted that it’s exciting to see the Education Department and its Office of Federal Student Aid making some quality-of-life adjustments after a swath of technical glitches related to simplifying the FAFSA severely disrupted the federal aid process in 2023 and 2024."

"'The new FAFSA that struggled to get off the ground is now off the ground and in a solid enough place that they’re able to turn their attention toward some of the nice-to-have enhancements that will make the process even more smooth for applicants,' she said."

... "Previously, the Trump administration attempted to combat fraud through ID-verification measures, though those were more poorly received due to concerns about accessibility. Congress is also currently considering two bills to combat financial aid fraud."

"Financial aid teams 'were kind of waving the white flag and saying, ‘Can the Department of Education help us with this?’' McCarthy said. 'We have been very supportive of the concept that they have been working on for quite some time where the bulk of responsibility for detecting suspected fraud would shift back to the Department of Education.'"

... "The new fraud-detection functionality will likely be implemented in the coming months. The details of how it will work are yet to be released, and ED did not respond to Inside Higher Ed’s request for details. But McCarthy said she is hopeful that the FAFSA tool will also allow for higher-quality fraud detection than institutions have been capable of on their own."

NASFAA's "Notable Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Articles included under the notable headlines section are not written by NASFAA, but rather by external sources. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.

Publication Date: 3/23/2026