Students Applying for Federal Financial Aid Will See Stricter ID Requirements
Credit: Kevin Carter / Getty Images News- The new requirement to show a valid government-issued ID will fully launch this fall. In the interim, it will only be required this summer for first-time applicants flagged by the Department of Education for potential federal student aid fraud.
- Applicants will be required to show their ID in person or through a video call to prove their identity.
- The Department of Education cited multiple reports from community colleges of mass fraud it says cost states and the federal government millions of dollars in aid.
As many as 125,000 students who filed for federal financial aid for the first time this summer will face stricter identification requirements.
The Department of Education (ED) on June 6 soft-launched a new financial aid verification process for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that it said will combat fraud. This summer, the new requirements will be used for first-time applicants flagged by the Department of Education for potential federal student aid fraud, but it won’t affect all students.
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“Today’s actions will implement temporary changes to the current verification process to prevent identity theft fraud,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a press release.
“We will continue to build longer-term solutions that reduce the administrative burden on institutions and protect American taxpayers who underwrite federal student aid programs.”
The department plans to fully implement the identity validation requirements starting this fall for the 2025-26 award year. All first-time financial aid applicants will be required to present an unexpired, valid, government-issued photo ID either in person or via video call.
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The ED announcement cited fraudulent applications found by the California Community Colleges system.
An independent Associated Press analysis of fraud reports found that California colleges in 2024 reported 1.2 million fraudulent applications, which resulted in 223,000 suspected fake enrollments. The Associated Press also reported on indictments for fraudulent college applications in Texas and New York state.
Each year, ED processes some 17.6 million FAFSA forms and distributes $120.8 billion in grant, work-study, and loan funds for 9.9 million college students. The new identification requirements along with severe staff cuts have college administrators worried that financial aid distribution will be impacted in fall 2025.
Low- and moderate-income students may soon see the first reduction in maximum Pell Grant awards in 30 years as part of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
If the bill passes, full-time students must enroll in at least 30 credit hours each academic year to be considered eligible for the maximum Pell Grant. That’s up from the current requirement of 24 credit hours per year. Students taking fewer than 15 credits annually won’t qualify for a Pell Grant at all.
The Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan economic and budget analytics arm of Congress, predicts this eligibility change will impact over 3 million students, including about 700,000 who would lose eligibility entirely.
Under the bill, college students would also lose access to subsidized and Grad PLUS loans.