The Education Department Will Probably Mess Up Next Year’s FAFSA Too
This year, the Department of Education created a massive headache for millions of college students and their families when it released an updated version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form that was riddled with technical bugs.
Completing the FAFSA form is required for anyone seeking federal grants and loans, as well as institutional financial aid at the vast majority of American colleges and universities. However, despite the form’s importance, issues with this year’s FAFSA made it nearly impossible to complete for many families and led to a dramatic 13.5 percent decline in completed FAFSA applications by high school seniors by the end of May.Â
The issues stem from the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which directed Education Department officials to release a new version of the form. However, when the new form was released last December, it was riddled with glitches. Making matters worse, it was released almost three months later than the form’s typical release date.
The dozens of technical issues that followed created a nightmare for families and colleges alike. While college students and their parents struggled to complete the forms, college financial aid offices struggled to give students an accurate estimation of how much financial aid they would receive.Â
Last month, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona apologized during a congressional hearing, telling lawmakers, “I apologize to the students and families that have had to deal with delays” and characterizing the rollout as “frustrating” and “challenging.”Â
However, there’s little indication that next yea
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