Central South Dakota News

U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and U.S. Representative Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), along with 25 of their colleagues, have called for a Government Accountability Office investigation into the Biden administration's mishandling of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) program. This investigation comes after the Department of Education failed to properly implement the program, leading to delays in students and families' access to financial aid for college.

The FAFSA Simplification Act, a bipartisan legislation passed in 2020, aimed to make financial aid more accessible by streamlining the application process. The Department of Education was supposed to roll out the FAFSA program by January 1, 2024. However, the department only made the application available for short periods on December 30 and 31, 2023, before finally making it fully live on January 6, 2024, days after the Congress-set deadline.

In their letter, the members of Congress express their concerns about the impact of these delays on students and schools. They state, "...Repeated delays from the Department of Education (Education) in rolling out the new FAFSA have left students and schools in limbo for the upcoming school year." They further highlight the potential consequences, stating, "All these challenges and delays may cause some students—particularly low-income students who are most dependent on federal aid—to give up and not pursue postsecondary education."

The members also criticize the Department of Education's outreach efforts, stating, "However, initial feedback from students and schools indicates that Education’s current outreach efforts are falling short." They emphasize that the goal of FAFSA simplification was to make the process easier for students and their families, but it seems that the department has not effectively communicated the changes to students and schools.

To address these issues, the members of Congress have requested the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct an investigation. They want the GAO to examine the challenges faced by students and schools during the initial award cycle for the new FAFSA, the steps taken by the Department of Education to address these challenges, the extent to which students have been provided with sufficient information on completing the new FAFSA, and the extent to which schools have been given guidance on incorporating the FAFSA changes into their financial aid processes.

The botched rollout of the FAFSA program has created uncertainty for students and schools, impacting their ability to plan for the upcoming school year. The investigation requested by Rounds, Cassidy, and their colleagues aims to uncover the extent of the problems and find solutions to prevent such complications in the future.