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The Department of Education is requiring colleges and universities to implement stricter identity-verification measures for some first-time applicants for federal student aid, according to a Friday announcement.
The new measures, which are intended to remain in place until the Federal Student Aid office establishes a permanent screening process for FAFSA applicants this fall, applies only to first-time federal aid applicants for the 2025–26 academic year. Students whose identities are questioned must submit to their institution—either in person or on a video call—an “unexpired, valid, government-issued photo identification,” which the institution must keep a copy of.
ED predicted approximately 125,000 students would be affected.
Additional guidance from FSA instructs college administrators on what to do if they detect or suspect fraud.
Department officials called the stricter verification measures part of “a nationwide effort to eliminate identity theft and fraud in the federal student aid programs for the fall 2025 semester to protect taxpayers while significantly reducing the administrative burden on colleges and universities.”
According to ED’s announcement, FSA detected 150,000 suspect identities on FAFSA forms in the last week alone. As Inside Higher Ed has reported, California has for years been battling a tide of “ghost students” that steal financial aid awards.
“When rampant fraud is taking aid away from eligible students, disrupting the operations of colleges, and ripping off taxpayers, we have a responsibility to act,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Today’s actions will implement temporary changes to the current verification process to prevent identity theft fraud. 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.”
