Rep. Courtney and 106 Colleagues Urge U.S. Department of Education to Address FASFA Rollout Issues
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the traditional May 1st “college decision day” approaches, Rep. Joe Courtney joined education leaders in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in calling on U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to urgently address the operational issues with the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form that impacts millions of students across the country.
Just last week, Rep. Joe Courtney met with presidents of independent colleges across Connecticut who discussed the complications facing students and their institutions due to the delayed FASFA rollout. Notably, the delay may lead to students making a college decision on May 1 without a full understanding of the financial aid available to them.
Rep. Courtney and the members wrote: “We write today to ask for more clarity on how the Department of Education (the Department) plans to communicate any further delays in FAFSA processing, and how the Department intends to minimize the potential impact on students and families so they can make the most informed decision possible about their futures, including through providing prompt, clear timelines.”
They continued, “Any delays in financial aid processing will most impact the students that need aid most…For institutions to support students’ ability to make informed decisions about their future, they need clear guidance and resources from the Department immediately on any and all next steps.”
Every year, about 17 million students fill out the FAFSA form as a first step to access the financial aid needed to cover the skyrocketing costs of higher education. In 2020, Congress passed the bipartisan FAFSASimplification Act to make the federal student financial aid process more efficient and straightforward. The FAFSA Simplification Act directed the Department to streamline the application form and make long overdue updates to the formulas that assess a students’ financial need. According to the Department, as a result of this law, the 2024-2025 FAFSA form will ensure 610,000 more students from low-income backgrounds will be eligible to receive a federal Pell Grant, and 1.5 million more students will be eligible to receive a maximum Pell award.
However, implementation of these changes was a significant undertaking, one that the Department has had to do with less funding than it anticipated. As a result, operational glitches and delays in the rollout of this new version of the FAFSA form has left students and colleges in limbo and locked many families out of the process altogether.
“The recent announcements from the Department were a welcome first step in addressing the many challenges students, counselors, aid administrators, and relevant stakeholders are facing in accessing, submitting, and processing the new FAFSA form. But now, it is imperative that we all work together to ensure no student falls through the cracks or faces unnecessary challenges in accessing the aid they are due,” the members concluded.
Read the full letter, here.