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State education officials say FAFSA data aren’t stored by department; board hears progress on completion rates
Summary
Board members discussed FAFSA completion, privacy concerns and reporting partnerships that produce monthly completion reports. State Department staff said the department does not receive or retain parents’ tax or other FAFSA data and described existing waiver procedures and reporting relationships with Alabama College Attainment Network and ACHE.
Members of the Alabama State Board of Education spent part of a work session reviewing student FAFSA completion, privacy protections and reporting arrangements, with state staff and board members urging clearer public information and faster reports for districts.
Board member comments opened the discussion, with multiple members saying constituents and school staff have called with questions about whether FAFSA completion is mandatory and whether the State Department of Education holds applicants’ tax or personal information. "We do not hold any information. We don't see any information," said State Department staff, summarizing department practice for the board. The staff member said counselors record only whether a student chose FAFSA, the waiver or another option in PowerSchool; the department receives no tax data from parents.
Board members said the public confusion has practical consequences around graduation timing and outreach. Several members asked for a public-facing FAQ and a simple link to the waiver request; one member said a counselor or principal had told a family a waiver did not exist. Board members also discussed the timing of monthly completion reports. The State Department described a partnership with the Alabama College Attainment Network and the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) that supplies completion metrics and a heat‑map for county-level progress. Staff said ACHE receives federal FAFSA completion notifications and that ACHE’s reporting capability improved after a CARES Act–funded upgrade.
District-level follow-up measures were discussed: superintendents can grant blanket waivers, and board members said many are doing so when parents decline to enter tax information. Staff noted special circumstances — for example, families whose parents do not have Social Security numbers — and told the board those students may graduate even if the FAFSA portion requiring parental tax information is not completed. Board members asked staff to provide clear language the department can circulate to districts and constituents explaining the waiver, the graduation implications and how a parent can rescind or request a waiver.
Board members also requested that the department continue to provide monthly and end‑of‑year reports on FAFSA completion broken down by county and district and asked for the data as early as possible so schools can use the information for summer outreach. Staff said they can provide monthly data and will work to make reading and completion maps and district breakouts more accessible.
The board did not vote on policy during the discussion; members directed staff to prepare clearer public guidance and to share more timely completion reports with the board and districts.
