The Department of Education launched a $50 million FAFSA concierge service to assist schools with “additional personnel, funding, resources, and technology” to prepare to process the forthcoming Individual Student Information Records (ISIRs) as quickly as possible.

This new College Support Strategy initiative was announced earlier this week and will be housed within the office of Federal Student Aid. Along with the support services, the Department also released two new resources: Pro Tips, a guide that helps answer common questions posed by students and families; and FAFSA completion data by high school and public school district.

Additional resources provided by the Department include deploying financial aid experts to campuses to help analyze internal systems and processes, technical assistance and other supports for under resourced colleges, and additional information and tools tailored to the needs of the requesting institution. The Department has not yet provided information on how it will define under resourced institutions.

The Department has established an email address – CollegeSupportStrategy-FAFSA@ed.gov – that institutions can use to request individualized assistance to prepare for the new FAFSA data.