FAFSA College Support Strategy

In order to help more families pay for college, Congress passed legislation that required substantial changes to financial aid processing systems at the Department of Education and institutions of higher education. There is a significant scale of revisions required for their practices, policies, and computer systems to implement these reforms.

As a result, some institutions, particularly under-resourced colleges, will continue to need technical support during this second year of transition. The 2025-26 College Support Strategy will provide financial aid offices support from third-party technical assistance teams for capacity-building services to institutions.

High-Level Scope

ECMC will use federal fund resources to deploy the teams described above for the following activities:

• Ensuring system readiness for the 2025-26 cycle, making needed system upgrades to meet all compliance requirements—including increased cybersecurity requirements—and managing annual FAFSA recertifications for 2026-27 FAFSA and beyond.
• Adopting longer-term operational and technical changes that align with the new FAFSA to run more efficient annual processing and packaging of student aid awards.
• Training and coaching financial aid administrators on how best to develop institutional policies and capabilities to meet ongoing FAFSA developments.

Request Support

Using a set of objective parameters (such as serving a large portion of Pell Grant recipients, sole reliance on FAFSA data to package aid, etc.) the Department will identify under-resourced institutions most likely in need of FAFSA technical assistance support to administer aid. ECMC will contact these institutions to assess their interest in capacity-building FAFSA support provided by third-party service providers.

There will be a process for additional higher-need institutions to inquire about support availability at a future date. Email support at fafsacollegesupport@ecmc.org.