Federal Tax Information and FAFSA Data Changes

Sarah Austin, NASFAA Policy Staff

NASFAA 2025 conference attendees heard from Dennis Kramer, director of the Department of Education’s (ED) policy research and analysis group, on Thursday regarding federal tax information (FTI) and FAFSA data use and sharing. Kramer began with background information, highlighting the changes that came with implementation of the FUTURE Act and FAFSA Simplification Act.

Kramer then went on to provide lists of what is considered FTI, as well as what is considered intermediate or derived FTI, which must be treated like FTI for data use and sharing. ED plans to include the derived and intermediate FTI values in the FTI block on ISIRs, starting with the 2026-27 ISIR record layout.

A list of “other financial aid data” that is not considered FTI or FAFSA data was also provided. This information prompted several follow-up questions from attendees, where Kramer clarified that Pell Grant eligibility is considered FAFSA data, but Pell Grant receipt and amount are not.

Kramer then discussed FAFSA data use guidance, focusing on ED’s interpretation of the phrase “application, award, and administration of aid.” While several attendees asked about specific situations, Kramer stressed the importance of the institution making the determination on whether a particular function meets the criteria of “application, award, and administration of aid.”

During the session, a major focus of the discussion was related to when other institutional offices or staff outside of financial aid are able to access FTI, especially for mandatory reporting, including Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Kramer again reiterated the importance of the institution determining if the business functions of the staff member or office are related to the application, award, or administration of aid.

As mentioned in the federal update Thursday morning, Kramer confirmed additional guidance related to FTI data sharing will be released by the department “soon.”

Publication Date: 6/27/2025

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