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News and Updates About Federal Financial Aid & the FAFSA: Students | Practitioners

For Students: News and Updates About Federal Financial Aid & the FAFSA

Updated as of 3/4/26

What is the status of FAFSA and financial aid right now?

The 26-27 FAFSA is open! We encourage students to complete their FAFSA and state financial aid forms. 

What is happening with the Pell Grant?

The Federal Pell Grant maximum award amount for the 2026–27 award year (July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027) remains fixed at $7,395.

What is happening with the Department of Education?

Some offices and programs are being moved from the US Department of Education to other federal government agencies. The Department of Education changes do not currently affect federal financial aid. The FAFSA is still open and Pell Grants and federal loans will continue to be disbursed. Student loan borrowers must continue making payments on their debts.

What is happening with student loans?

Some changes are coming to student loan repayment programs. There are also new limits on the Parent PLUS loan and Grad PLUS loans, and colleges may start pro-rating student loans for part-time enrollment. For more information, check out our blog.

Workforce Pell Grant program

The newly created Workforce Pell Grant program will open up accredited shorter term training programs between 8–15 weeks of instruction to be eligible to be covered by the Pell Grant. This is set to begin on July 1, 2026, for the 2026-27 school year, however it will take more time before programs are approved to be eligible for workforce Pell. It excludes remedial, non-credit, English language learning, or study abroad coursework.  

What is happening to borrowers whose student loans are in default?

The Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) is still pausing collections of loans that are in default. Technically, a borrower is considered in default when they have entered repayment and then fail to make a loan payment for at least 270 days. This does not apply to students who have taken out a loan and repayment has not yet started because they are still enrolled or are in their grace period. 

People can check the status of their student loans by logging into StudentAid.gov. The online dashboard shows how much debt they owe and to whom, their monthly payment amount, and if they are in default or not. If someone checks the dashboard and there is a discrepancy between the dashboard and their loan servicer portals, they should call their loan servicer and confirm their actual balance and due dates. 

To learn more about the loan rehabilitation program and consolidation, StudentAid.gov/manage-loans has more information. Borrowers in default should go to the Default Resolution Group website to make a monthly payment, enroll in an income-driven repayment plan, or sign up for loan rehabilitation. 

Immigration Policy and Student FAFSA Data Privacy

On April 7, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service signed a memorandum of understanding. This means ICE officers can ask the IRS for information about immigrants who have final orders of removal or are under criminal investigation, including for failing to leave the country after 90 days. This is a substantial change in how IRS data are used. Previously, IRS policy encouraged immigrants to pay taxes and assured undocumented taxpayers that their information was confidential. There have been lawsuits alleging that this data-sharing agreement is illegal. This AP article has more information.

The data-sharing agreement between ICE and the IRS does not grant access to FAFSA data. FAFSA data is distinct from the information maintained by the IRS. To our understanding, this data-sharing agreement will not impact the use of the Direct Data Exchange (DDX) on the FAFSA. Granting consent for the use of the DDX does not present any additional risk of information exposure.

From what we understand now, there is no additional risk to completing the FAFSA for those who have filed their taxes using an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number). For those who do not have an ITIN, we recommend that they make their own decision as to whether to create one or not.

Here are more resources about immigration law:

For explanations:

State-specific lists of immigration law and service providers

General legal rights resource regarding if one is stopped, arrested, or detained: