"The Native Forward Scholars Fund, a scholarship provider for Native American students, typically doles out aid to about 1,300 students per year through 40 different scholarship programs," Inside Higher Ed reports.

..."A report from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, based on a survey of at least 89 financial aid staff members from a variety of institutions in January, found that only 58 percent were willing to share federal income tax data from the FAFSA with scholarship-granting organizations—with student consent—and 22 percent said they would never share this information, even with student consent. A little over 70 percent said they would share with scholarship-granting organizations FAFSA data that didn’t come from the IRS, and 11 percent would never share such data. Meanwhile, 22 percent reported ending or modifying data-sharing agreements with scholarship programs, foundations and other outside entities because of data-sharing changes during the 2024–25 aid year.

'Generally speaking, anytime a financial aid office was at all confused or uncertain about what information they could share with who, they really just locked down the data,' said Sarah Austin, a policy analyst at NASFAA...

Seeking Solutions

Up until last week, the Education Department offered 'piecemeal' guidance to colleges about what data could be shared with whom and how after changes to the FAFSA, but there wasn’t any formal written guidance about sharing federal income tax information, Austin said."

NASFAA's "Notable Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Articles included under the notable headlines section are not written by NASFAA, but rather by external sources. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.

Publication Date: 10/7/2025