Office of Student Aid : Parents of Students : Parent Newsletter

Penn State Office of Student Aid Parent Newsletter

December 2007

Do You Know Your Federal Student Aid PIN (Personal Identification Number)?

The 2008-09 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA on the Web) will be available beginning January 1, 2008. If you or your student do not have your PINs handy or have never requested them, you can apply for them online. The PINs serve as electronic signatures for your student's FAFSA on the Web, and signing electronically will speed the application process. You and your student will each need to have your own individual PIN to complete the FAFSA on the Web. Additional details about the PIN are available on the PIN Web site.

PIN Activation Agreement

If you and your student are applying for a PIN for the first time, you will both need to agree to the following:

• Users are not permitted to disclose or share their PIN with anyone. **This includes members of their immediate family.**
• The PIN serves as an individual's electronic signature.
• It provides access to your personal records.
• It is used to make binding legal obligations.
• Users must keep their PINs in a safe location and notify the Department of Education immediately if the number is lost, stolen, or compromised in any way.
• The agreement also advises that individuals may change or disable their PINs from the PIN Web site.

PIN Security

In addition to the PIN activation agreement, the Department of Education utilizes the following security measures:

• Users will need to select a "challenge question" and response, i.e., mother's maiden name, name of elementary school, favorite television show, etc.
• The PIN will be deactivated after three consecutive unsuccessful authentication attempts.
• A "re-establish" process is available for users who have been locked out.
• The PIN will be permanently disabled after three consecutive unsuccessful attempts to re-establish the number.
• PINs will be disabled if they are not used within an 18-month period.
• A history or audit trail will be created to track authentication attempts.

The PINs will serve as electronic signatures for you and your student. Please consider them equivalent to handwritten signatures. As parents, we often want to assist our children with paperwork, such as the FAFSA; however, it is not appropriate to sign documents on behalf of your son or daughter. It is also not legal to do so.

Other highlights of the PIN Web site:

• For a list of PIN functions, visit the Department of Education Web site.
• A help link is listed at the top of the site.
• Links to other Federal Student Aid Web sites are located at the bottom of the page.
• Links to privacy and security information are available on the site.

For additional information on applying for aid for 2008-09, please be sure to review the applying information on our Web site.