èÖľyuzuki

FAFSA Completion Initiative FAQsÌý

(Version 6-30-2025)

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1. Ìý How do we determine whether a student has applied for financial aid? Do we take their word for it or is there a mechanism to keep track of who is applying for financial aid?

a. ÌýSchools and districts are encouraged to visit the HESC website () to review resources that may be useful in meeting the new FAFSA completion requirements. The FAFSA Completion Initiative enables HESC to share specific, limited information regarding FAFSA and TAP form completions with high schools and school districts across èÖľyuzuki, providing customized reports critical for measuring students' progress in completing these forms. For example, schools and districts can access student-level information by joining HESC’s FAFSA Completion Initiative and entering into a data-sharing agreement. Data access and security agreements are available for review atÌý. Ìý

Alternatively, school districts may develop their own process to comply with the new requirements.Ìý

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2. ÌýWill high schools receive a report from NYSED that provides data on which students have completed their FASFAs?

a. No, NYSED will not be providing a report back to schools with data on which students have completed their FASFAs.ÌýÌýÌý

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3. ÌýWhere do school districts report FAFSA completion data and what is the deadline for reporting?

a. In response to the Governor’s FAFSA Completion Initiative (FCI), please complete the brief survey that you will find in the . This survey will ask you for the following information:

• The name of each public high school in the district.Ìý
• The total number of seniors enrolled in each high school.
• The total number of seniorsÌýin each high school who have completed either the FAFSA, TAP or, if applicable,ÌýtheÌýèÖľyuzuki State DREAM Act application.
• The number of seniors in each high school who have submitted an opt-outÌýwaiver.

The survey will become available on July 1, 2025 and will remain open until October 31, 2025. Please review the FAQ, and if you have any additional questions reach out toÌýkiap@nysed.gov. *Ìý

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4. ÌýAre school districts able to create and use their own waiver form or are we required to use the one that the state has created?

a. School districts may choose to create their own waiver form. A waiver form that is developed locally must be secure and contain the elements required in the law.ÌýÌý

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5. ÌýIs there a copy of the waiver in different languages?

a. NYSED will not be providing translations of the waiver into different languages.Ìý School districts can translate NYSED’s waiver form into languages that will best serve the students and families within their districts.ÌýÌý

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6. ÌýDo nonpublic schools or charter schools have any obligations under the FASFA Completion Initiative?

a. Nonpublic schools and charter schools are not required to collect or submit this information.

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7. ÌýDoes this new initiative require BOCES to collect and submit FAFSA completion data for full-day programs or will the information be submitted by the home district?Ìý

a. Information for students attending BOCES programming will be submitted by their districts of residence.

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8. Ìý Is it permissible to store FAFSA waiver information digitally in school records?Ìý

a. Storage is a local decision that should be made in accordance with a school district’s data minimization policies. Such information may be destroyed after the data is tabulated. However, if a school district chooses to store FAFSA information, it should ensure that this information is secured to the same extent as other personally identifiable information that it maintains.ÌýÌýÌý

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9. Ìý Can parent/student signatures be obtained electronically? If so, can districts utilize a student management application such as Parent Square?

a. Digital signatures are acceptable. The use of Education Law Section 2-dÌý compliant student management platforms is a local decision.

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10. ÌýWhat if some parents refuse to sign the waiver?

a. Districts should make every reasonable effort to collect the FAFSA completion data and submit whatever responses they have received by the deadline. The legislation prohibits students from being penalized if their parents or guardians do not comply with the above requirements.

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11. ÌýWill there be a grace period for the 2024-2025 year if districts cannot obtain all required signatures?

a. No.Ìý Per the enacted budget provision, on and after July 1, 2025, each school district must annually report to the Department certain data for all seniors enrolled in such district, aggregated by high school. Please see newly posted details in FAQ #3. *
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12. ÌýWhere can districts and students find information on state-sponsored scholarships and financial aid?

Please visit the following website:ÌýÌý.

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*Revised

High School Equivalency information for the NYS Tuition Assistance Program:

• State High School Equivalency Diploma -Ìý
• December 2015 - theÌýamendment of section 100.7Ìý
• High School Diploma for WWII, Korea, and Vietnam veterans who left high school before graduating (Section 305 of the NYS Education Law).Ìý

Complaints:

• For an individual complaint aboutÌýstate student financial aidÌýmatters:contact the Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) Customer Communications Center at 1-888-NYS-HESC. or 1- 888-697-4372 or 1-518-473-1574
• For a complaint about theÌýeducational programs or practicesÌýof degree-granting institutionsÌýsubject to the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education see the information on theÌý

Statutes and Commissioner's Regulations pertaining to State Financial Assistance:

• Link to all of theÌýÌý(Navigate specifically to NYCRR, Title 8, Chapter II, Subpart I, Part 145)

Links of Interest Regarding Financial Aid:

• Program (TAP) - administered by the Higher Education Services Corporation
• Additional information concerning other student financial aid programs can be obtained from high school counselors, college financial aid officers, and/or the: èÖľyuzuki State Higher Education Services Corporation, Division of Grants and Scholarships/Scholarship Unit, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, NYÌý 12255
  or
  1- 888-697-4372 or 1-518-473-1574