# Verification record — `us/ed/federal-student-aid-fafsa` (2025-26) v1.0.0 This file is the **source-review record** for this document edition/version, per the [`manual-source-review-v1`](../../../../../practices/manual-source-review-v1.md) practice. It documents the provenance of the published fields and flow and states the current verification claim honestly. ## Current claim - **`status`:** `draft` - **`edition`:** `award-year` / `2025-26` - **`verification.method`:** `manual-source-review-v1` - **`verification.lastVerifiedAt`:** `2026-06-30` The document was **derived from and cross-checked against** the official sources below, but the full field-by-field comparison the practice requires (`manual-source-review-v1` → Procedure step 2) has **not** yet been completed and recorded against the live online FAFSA flow. It therefore remains `draft`, not `verified`. ## Source examined - **Document `(id, edition, version)`:** `us/ed/federal-student-aid-fafsa` / `2025-26` / `1.0.0` - **Spec version:** GovSchema `0.2.0` (edition axis, GSP-0005) - **Authority:** U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid (FSA) - **Primary source URL:** - **Form reference:** FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), 2025-26 award year - **Authoritative layout source:** 2025-2026 Federal Student Aid Handbook, Application and Verification Guide, **Chapter 2 — Filling Out the FAFSA Form** () - **Award year / tax year:** 2025-26 award year; income uses the **2023** (prior-prior) tax year - **Retrieved / reviewed:** 2026-06-30 - **Reviewer:** GovSchema Engineering (initial authoring source-review) ## What was confirmed against the source | Source element | Field(s) | |---|---| | The form is organised by **contributor** (student; student spouse; parent; parent spouse/partner), each completing their own section, consenting, and signing | `parent*`, `consentApprovalToRetrieveFederalTaxInfo`, `studentSignatureFsaId` | | **Student Identity Information** — name, date of birth, SSN (blank if none) | `studentFirstName`, `studentMiddleName`, `studentLastName`, `studentDateOfBirth`, `studentSsn` | | **Student Contact Information** — email, mobile phone, permanent mailing address | `studentEmail`, `studentMobilePhone`, `addressLine1`/`addressLine2`/`addressCity`/`addressState`/`addressPostalCode`/`addressCountry` | | **Marital status**, **state of legal residence**, **citizenship** (with A-Number for eligible noncitizens) | `studentMaritalStatus`, `studentStateOfLegalResidence`, `studentCitizenshipStatus`, `studentAlienRegistrationNumber` | | **Student Personal Circumstances** / **Homelessness Status** — the questions that establish dependency | `isGraduateOrProfessionalStudent`, `isActiveDutyOrVeteran`, `hasDependentsOtherThanSpouse`, `isOrphanWardOrFosterCare`, `isEmancipatedOrInLegalGuardianship`, `isUnaccompaniedHomelessYouth` | | **Parent Identity / Contact Information** (dependent students invite the parent contributor) | `parentFirstName`, `parentLastName`, `parentSsn`, `parentDateOfBirth`, `parentEmail` | | **Family Size**, **Number in College**, **Federal Benefits Received** | `familySize`, `numberInCollege`, `receivedMeansTestedBenefits` | | **Tax Filing Status** and **manually-entered** financial items: child support received and **Assets** (cash/savings/checking, investment net worth, business/farm net worth) | `studentTaxFilingStatus2023`, `annualChildSupportReceived`, `assetsCashSavingsChecking`, `assetsInvestmentsNetWorth`, `assetsBusinessFarmNetWorth` | | **Colleges** — up to 20 schools online (10 on paper), by Federal School Code | `federalSchoolCodes` | | **Consent, Approval, and Signature** — FTI consent via FA-DDX is mandatory for every contributor; signature via FSA ID; Statement of Educational Purpose | `consentApprovalToRetrieveFederalTaxInfo`, `studentSignatureFsaId` | ## Modelling decisions (scope of this document) - **FA-DDX-transferred tax values are not modelled as collected inputs.** When a contributor consents, federal tax information (AGI, taxes paid, untaxed distributions, etc.) is transferred automatically from the IRS via the FUTURE Act Direct Data Exchange and is **not entered** on the form. Modelling those as input fields would misrepresent the 2025-26 process. They are summarised in the `studentTaxFilingStatus2023` description and the schema `description`. Only the **manually-entered** financial items (assets, child support) are modelled as fields. - **Spouse and parent-spouse/partner sub-sections** (AVG Questions 25-29 and the parent-spouse mirror) are represented through the contributor/consent model rather than as a full duplicate field set, to keep the reference document readable; the consent gate and signature requirement that apply to every contributor are encoded. ## Conditional requiredness (not encoded structurally in v0.2) Several FAFSA rules are conditional and are recorded in field `description`s, not as constraints (v0.2 has no conditional-required mechanism — tracked in [GSP-0004](../../../../../spec/proposals/0004-conditional-flow.md)): - **Parent fields** (`parent*`) are required only for **dependent** students; the dependency questions in the `dependency_status` step determine this. - **`studentAlienRegistrationNumber`** is required only when `studentCitizenshipStatus` is `eligible-noncitizen`. - **Manual financial entry** applies only when FA-DDX data is unavailable (IRS response codes 203/206/212/214) or does not reflect current circumstances; **assets are always manually entered**. - **Spouse contributor** participation is required only when the student is married and did not file 2023 taxes jointly with the current spouse. ## What is NOT yet independently verified - The exact **question numbering and on-screen labels** of the live 2025-26 online FAFSA were not transcribed screen-by-screen; `sourceRef` numbers follow the AVG Chapter 2 structure and are indicative, not a verbatim capture of the web form. - **Federal School Code** format is described, not pattern-constrained, because the field accepts multiple codes (or a name/address fallback); consumers should not rely on a single regex. - The set of **means-tested federal benefits** and the **dependency-determination logic** are summarised in descriptions, not encoded as decision data. ## Path to a `verified` claim (next step) To advance to `status: verified`, a reviewer applies `manual-source-review-v1` (Procedure step 2 field-by-field against the live online FAFSA and the AVG Chapter 2, step 3 flow), confirms the source is authoritative, resolves any discrepancy by shipping a **new schema version** within this edition (immutability — VERSIONING §3, practice Procedure step 5), and records the outcome here plus sets `status: verified` with a current `verification.lastVerifiedAt`/`nextReviewBy`. ## Editions This is the **2025-26** edition. A new FAFSA edition is published each award year (GSP-0005 / SPEC §5.7); editions coexist under `registry/us/ed/federal-student-aid-fafsa///`. The year-agnostic `id` (`us/ed/federal-student-aid-fafsa`) is shared across editions. ## Re-verification Per the practice's **Cadence**, `nextReviewBy` is set to **2026-12-30** (6 months): the 2026-27 FAFSA opens late in 2025/2026 and the online form, benefit list, and FA-DDX behaviour change between award years. Re-check the source on or before that date and on any `source.url` change.