How Does an Incarcerated Paper FAFSA Filer Correct Identity Validation Error 800-001 For Their Preexisting StudentAid.gov Account?

Scenario: The confined or incarcerated student (or their contributor) provided personal identifiers on the paper FAFSA that do not match the information already in Federal Student Aid's (FSA's) systems for the students’ (or their contributor’s) StudentAid.gov account (FSA ID). In other words, there is a mismatch between an existing StudentAid.gov account and information reported on a paper FAFSA.

Answer: The following guidance addresses the Identity Validation Processing Error 800–001 for confined or incarcerated individuals mentioned in GENERAL-24-139. It was sent to schools participating in the Revised Second Chance Pell Experiment. A similar communication was sent to schools with Prison Education Programs (PEPs).

"Attention Revised Second Chance Pell Participants:

We are preparing to return some unprocessed 2024-25 paper FAFSA forms to students for instances where, when we attempted to process these forms, we found that the information provided on the FAFSA form does not match the information already in our systems for the students’ (or their contributor’s) StudentAid.gov (FSA ID) account. There are also instances where a student who did not create an FSA ID may also have these issues because of new FAFSA system features. The launch of the 2024-25 FAFSA include system features that meet strict requirements related to consent and approval. Part of those new features include the creation of 'limited FSA ID' accounts for students who have completed a FAFSA application in a recent previous award cycle. The matching between the FSA ID and the FAFSA is meticulous, and in some cases, slight mismatches are preventing the processing of a student’s FAFSA. For example, if on the paper FAFSA the student provided Linda Jones-Smith, but on the FSA ID their name is listed as Linda Jones Smith (with no hyphen), the differences are flagged as a 'mismatch'. We have also seen cases where the mismatch is not as meticulous. For example, a student named Robert Johnson on an FSA ID listed their name as Bob Johnson on the paper FAFSA, or a student mistakenly listed the current year as their birth year (for example, January 1, 2024, instead of January 1, 1978). Due to these mismatches, we were unable to fully process the form. These mismatch occurrences may also be referred to as error code 800-001.

As these FAFSAs are returned to students, the Department will include a cover letter with these returned forms that says the following:

Title: Issue with Your FAFSA Form Information – Action Required

We could not process your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form because information provided on it does not match previously submitted data to Federal Student Aid (FSA) for you or your contributor’s FSA ID. The data on your FAFSA must be an exact match to your FSA ID information, including spacing, punctuation, and abbreviations. Please take one of these two approaches to address this issue:

If you do not have access to the internet: Please review the enclosed partial copy of your FAFSA to make sure your (and any contributor’s) full name, address, and date of birth are correct. If any of this information is incorrect, enter the correct information on the enclosed pages from your FAFSA form. Whether the information is correct or not, please provide the copy to the Financial Aid Administrator (FAA) for your educational program with a copy of this letter. Your FAA will work with you to provide FSA with your and/or your contributor’s correct information. FSA will then make any needed changes to resolve the data mismatch and process your FAFSA application.

If you have access to the internet: Please view and update your FSA ID information online at studentaid.gov. To see your information, log in and select Settings. If the data is incorrect or inconsistent with the information on the enclosed form, you can complete and submit a new corrected FAFSA form online at StudentAid.gov. Again, the information on your FAFSA must be an exact match to your FSA ID information, including spacing, punctuation, and abbreviations. Do not use this approach if you need to retain the submission date of your paper FAFSA to maintain eligibility for federal, state or institutional aid.

The Department understands the value of schools being notified of these returned FAFSAs in advance of students receiving them, to pre-plan with your correctional partners to help ensure that the students receive this mail. Also, as the letter the students will receive notes, we are also aware of the limitation of incarcerated students with online access, and the ability to make calls to FSA’s Help Desk. As a result, we have developed a specialized process to assist these students with resolving this issue. To try to limit the burden to both the students and schools, we have developed a process that mirrors what you currently follow when your school needs to have their school code added to a student’s FAFSA, or when you have a student who is able to complete an online FAFSA and needs to regain access to their FSA ID (studentaid.gov account). As your students receive the specific pages of their returned FAFSA please following the steps provided below:

Resolution Steps

To resolve this data mismatch issue:

1. Collect the pages of the student’s FAFSA with the correct full name, SSN, date of birth, and address. [These should have been mailed back to the student, along with the letter describing the 800-001 error code issue.] If the original full name, SSN, date of birth, and address is correct still collect the pages of the student’s FAFSA so that it can be returned to FSA.

2. Collect a copy of the student’s prison ID.

3. Collect the following signed statement (noted below) from the student.

4. Send all three documents to [email protected].

To note, since cybersecurity requirements result in the Department needing to collect and retain original FAFSA signatures of consent and approval, the FAFSA page returned to students under these circumstances will be a copy of the student’s original FAFSA. The Department will retain the original FAFSA and combine it with the FAFSA copy that the student corrected (or confirmed) when proceeding with processing.

Signed Statement

This statement certifies that I __________________________________________ (Enter Name), __________________ (Enter Social Security Number), ___________________ (Enter Date of Birth) am incarcerated and applying for a Pell Grant. I am requesting that FSA take action to resolve the data mismatch error that is preventing my FAFSA from being processed and have provided a copy of my prison ID. I require this specialized process because I am not permitted to have other forms of identification while incarcerated.

Student Signature: ________________________________________ Date: ______________________"

Limited Purpose Email Address: According to guidance NASFAA has received from the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the above email address should be used exclusively for requesting help in resolving an 800-001 error code for incarcerated applicants. Password protect the file, as it will contain personally identifiable information (PII), and send the password as a separate email. Emails to this address that are unrelated to the 800-001 error code resolution process may not be answered or acted on.

Note: It is NASFAA's understanding that the above guidance continues to apply for the 2025-26 award year and beyond.