When a student completes a FAFSA, a great deal of personal information is recorded. To ensure that no one but the applicant has access to this information, the Department of Education requires that each applicant create his own PIN. The applicant also must agree to not share this PIN with anyone else.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, the PIN allows the user to access her Federal Student Aid records online and can be used each year to electronically apply for federal student aid. Additionally, the PIN permits users to electronically sign Federal Student Aid documents and make binding legal obligations.
To further insure privacy, each time a user wishes to access his personal information on the Federal Student Aid websites, it is necessary to provide a Social Security Number, a full name and a date of birth, in addition to the PIN.
A user's PIN will stay the same indefinitely. If the user loses or forgets his PIN, it is possible to request a duplicate copy of the PIN via the FAFSA PIN website.
The FAFSA PIN web site also allows users to change a PIN, disable or reestablish a PIN, activate a dormant PIN and update personal information. Detailed information about the FAFSA application may be found on the Department of Education's FAFSA website.