NASFAA Supports Student Privacy Legislation
By Hugh T. Ferguson, NASFAA Managing Editor
House Democrats unveiled legislation on Wednesday, the Protecting Student Privacy Act, that would prohibit personally identifiable information collected by the FAFSA from being used for immigration enforcement.
The legislation, introduced by Rep. Emily Randall (D-Wash.) and sponsored by Reps. Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), would specifically prohibit any federal agency that has immigration enforcement authority, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), or a state or local agency that has an agreement with DHS, from accessing personally identifiable information collected through the FAFSA for purposes of immigration enforcement.
The personally identifiable information used to determine student aid eligibility includes citizenship information, household financial data, tax information, dependency status, family composition information, addresses, Social Security-related identifiers, and contributor information submitted by parents or guardians.
The bill also contains two exceptions to data disclosure: when a court order is issued in connection with a federal or state criminal offense allegedly committed by a student, or when a student or individual voluntarily and expressly consents to disclosure.
Randall argues that students from mixed-status households are forgoing their financial aid eligibility out of fear for how DHS will use their FAFSA application.
“The Protecting Student Privacy Act would safeguard students’ FAFSA data, tax information, dependency status, family information, addresses, and more from being accessed by ICE and DHS for immigration enforcement,” Randall said.
“The FAFSA exists to help students access financial aid and achieve their educational goals — not to serve as a tool for immigration enforcement,” said Karen McCarthy, NASFAA’s vice president of public policy & federal relations. “NASFAA is proud to support the Protecting Student Privacy Act because it reinforces a fundamental principle: sensitive financial aid information should only be used for its intended purpose. Strengthening these protections is essential to ensuring that all students feel confident and secure when applying for the aid they need.”
Publication Date: 6/8/2026
David S | 6/8/2026 9:46:34 AM
Thank you for taking action on this, NASFAA. And I'm not sure of all of the details, but doesn't the law specifically say already that the FAFSA cannot be used for purposes other than calculating financial aid eligibility? I seem to remember some ruling a few years back that said schools couldn't use data collected on FAFSA's for some other non-federal aid related purpose, to the extent where we briefly wondered if the law could be interpreted so narrowly as to not allow FAFSA data to be used to calculate institutional aid eligibility. That never happened, but it's frightening that we need to fight the possibility of it being used to enforce this administration's interpretation of immigration laws.
Of course, we already know or at least can safely assume that there are families who forgo financial aid or even college altogether assuming that their FAFSA submission will be used for that very reason.
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