ED Announces Changes to V4/V5 Verification Requirements, Effective Immediately
Sarah Austin and Megan Walter
June 11, 2025
In an electronic announcement (EA) released Friday, the Department of Education (ED) announced its plans to launch a “nationwide effort to eliminate identity theft and fraud in the federal student aid programs for the fall 2025 semester.” In the interim, schools will see higher verification selection rates for the V4 and V5 groups this summer.
ED outlined its plan to combat fraud in the Title IV aid programs in the EA, citing “recent data” that reveals a level of fraud so severe it “imperils” the Title IV programs. The EA mentions that the Pell Grant program is a prime target for “technologically advanced fraud rings,” which the department believes “necessitates immediate and significant action to protect taxpayer funds.”
ED plans to create a new internal screening process that will subject every FAFSA submission to an additional layer of scrutiny by ED’s systems during initial FAFSA processing, which ED believes will enhance its “ability to identify potential cases of identity fraud.” The department’s long-term objective with this new screening process is to detect fraudulent identities with enough certainty to significantly reduce, and ideally eliminate, the need for schools to complete V4 verification. The EA cautions that while implementing the new technology this fall, institutions should still expect higher rates for V4 selection compared to the 2024-25 school year.
