Draft versions of the proposed 2020-21 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form, the Student Aid Report (SAR) and the SAR Acknowledgement are available for public comment. The comment period is an opportunity for the community to provide feedback and input on the information that we collect on the FAFSA form. Only comments regarding the FAFSA form and related forms should be submitted during this comment period. Comments related to topics such as the FSA ID or the verification process should not be submitted using this process.
Comments submitted during the 60-day comment period have been reviewed by the Department of Education and compiled into a single document that includes the Department’s responses. This document can be found here.
The FAFSA form, SAR and SAR Acknowledgement are used by individuals applying for federal student aid. The federal student aid application process is required to collect and process the data necessary to determine a student’s eligibility to receive Title IV, HEA program assistance. The process begins with an applicant submitting a FAFSA form to the Department of Education. After submitting the FAFSA form, the applicant receives a SAR, which is a summary of the data provided on the FAFSA form. The applicant reviews the SAR for accuracy and if necessary, makes corrections or updates to the submitted FAFSA data.
The updated draft documents are available for review. Included in the posted documentation are:
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The updated draft of the 2020-21 FAFSA form;
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The updated draft of the 2020-21 SAR;
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The updated draft of the 2020-21 SAR Acknowledgement;
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The updated Paper Summary of Enhancements to the 2020-21 Free Application for Federal Student Aid;
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The updated Student Electronic Entry Summary of Enhancements to the 2020-21 Free Application for Federal Student Aid;
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The 2020-21 Data Elements Justification, which provides an explanation for every question on the FAFSA form; and
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The Supporting Statement for the 2020-21 FAFSA form
All documents can be viewed by clicking this link: https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=ED-2019-ICCD-0039. Once the Web page opens, click on “Supporting Statements (30D FRN)” or “Forms and Instructions (30D FRN)” and each of the “DOC” or “PDF” icons to open the documents.
Comments submitted in response to this notice should be submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov by searching on Docket ID number ED-2019-ICCD-0039-0067 or by linking directly to the site here https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=ED-2019-ICCD-0039-0067. Click on the “Comment Now!” button to submit a comment.
We have made some changes to the application as a result of comments received during the 60-day comment period. These changes are explained in the FAFSA Enhancements Summary documents, which can be found here https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=ED-2019-ICCD-0039-0068. To open the document, click on the “DOC” icon next to either the Paper Summary of Enhancements or the Student Electronic Entry Summary of Enhancements.