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The Department of Education under the Biden administration is once again making life difficult for current and future college students as delays in the launch of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid enters its second year.
Last year, the DOE and the Office of Federal Student Aid launched a new version of the FAFSA application. However, the rollout was plagued with glitches and delays, to the point that the application was not even functional until January, a full three months after it was supposed to launch in October 2023.
The delays created numerous headaches for students, families, and universities. Financial award letters were not sent out on time in March 2024, and students had to wait until the end of the 2023-2024 school year, in many cases after decision deadlines had passed.
The delays had significant impacts on the freshman classes of 2024. A July survey of private colleges by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities indicated that 43% of institutions surveyed reported a decline in class size for the 2024-2025 school year.
But rather than take steps to ensure the 2025-2026 FAFSA application would be functional on Oct. 1, 2024, and avoid a repeat of last year’s delay, it appears the DOE learned nothing.
Earlier this year, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona announced that the application would not be launching on Oct. 1 and would instead launch on Dec. 1, a full two months later. While this is a marginal improvement from last year, this delay still creates a scenario where universities are once again unable to send financial aid awards by the traditional March timeline.
If students are lucky, they will receive their financial aid letters sometime in April or early May 2025, leaving them only a few days before most deadlines to make their final college decisions.
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There is no excuse for the Biden administration and the DOE to have bogged down the FAFSA rollout in incompetence for two consecutive years. The application is one of the most basic responsibilities of the Office of Federal Student Aid and the agency has failed this simple task for two years in a row.
New leadership at the DOE and the Office of Federal Student Aid is sorely needed. Whoever wins the presidential election in November must appoint a new Secretary of Education who will restore confidence that the agency can complete its most basic functions on time.
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