New and Potential SAIG Agreement Revisions Include Safeguards Rule, Federal Tax Information

The current Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) Agreement requires higher education institutions to attest to full compliance with new Safeguards Rule provisions. A new version of the SAIG Agreement coming this fall may include new cybersecurity obligations related to the redisclosure of federal tax information to institutions.

There were two important policy developments for higher education IT professionals in the first half of 2023. First, as of June 9, 2023, all institutions must comply with the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) revised Safeguards Rule. The second development concerns changes the U.S. Department of Education (ED) Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) will implement related to the handling of federal tax information (FTI) and the redisclosure of such data to higher education institutions. The current Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) Agreement already includes language requiring institutions to attest to full compliance with the new Safeguards Rule regulation. The SAIG Agreement will be revised this fall to incorporate new provisions on the use of FTI in financial aid processes and institutional obligations associated with that data.

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