A group of Republicans in the House and Senate is calling on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the “botched” rollout of the new version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms, which led to complaints from students and colleges.
The new form was not available until the end of December 2023, when it is typically released in October. On top of the nearly three-month delay, the form became unavailable to students for the first few days and has been off-line for many hours each day since.
Periodic maintenance to the IRS system increased users’ frustration by shutting down the form for most of the day.
“Despite having three years to prepare for the FAFSA rollout, [the Department of Education] only made the application available for borrowers for a mere 30 minutes on Dec. 30 before taking it down and then making it live for only one additional hour on Dec. 31,” the lawmakers said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The application was then only accessible for sporadic periods until it became fully live on Saturday, January 6th, days after the deadline set by Congress,” they added.
In a letter to the GAO, the lawmakers said they want to know what difficulties families faced in filling out the new form, as well as the hurdles colleges and universities experienced while administering financial aid for the 2024–2025 academic year. They also asked the federal watchdog to look into whether the department provided students and institutions with sufficient guidance to navigate the changes.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the top Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chairwoman of the House Education Committee, requested the investigation along with 26 other Republican members of Congress.
“Repeated delays from the Department of Education in rolling out the new FAFSA have left students and schools in limbo for the upcoming school year,” they wrote, arguing that the delays have left many students “uncertain about their educational future.”
The delays, according to the lawmakers, make college administrators uncertain of when they will eventually receive information from students’ FAFSAs, which is essential for determining financial aid packages. Some colleges may be unable to keep up with their usual timelines for sending students financial aid offers, which could leave students with little to no time to compare offers and pick a school that’s more affordable to them.
Reason for New Process
The new FAFSA is mandated under an education bill signed into law by President Donald Trump near the end of his first term. The legislative effort was meant to streamline the lengthy, 108-question student aid form, with simplified processes for families to provide their tax and income information.The form itself is designed to be much easier to file, as the number of the required questions is now about 50. Some applicants find themselves only having to complete as few as 18 questions.
In previous years, information about income and finances had to be added manually. On the new FAFSA form, the student and their contributors may import their tax data from the IRS after they consent to allow the Education Department to access their file in the IRS database. The connection with the IRS also shortens the form by removing many of the financial questions.
The new FAFSA form will be in its soft launch period until the end of January. Despite a glitch-ridden and much-delayed launch, more than 1 million FAFSA forms have been submitted since the online form debuted.
The Education Department said it initiated pauses for site maintenance and to make technical updates as needed to provide a better experience for students and their families. The form will now be continuously available except for routine maintenance, which is typical of any FAFSA cycle.
“The fact that over a million students were able to complete the Better FAFSA during its brief soft launch period underscores our commitment to making applying for college financial aid simpler and easier than ever before,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said on Jan. 6, celebrating the milestone.
