Washington lawmakers criticize Biden Administration for FAFSA fiasco; Department of Ed. launches program to boost completion

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - This week, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said many of the issues with the overhauled Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA, have resolved and said that a new grant program to boost applications completions has been launched. But his agency and the Biden Administration continue to face criticism for the botched rollout of the application.

“We’re working with superintendents, teachers, school principals, YMCA, Boys and Girls Club to have an all hands on deck approach. And we’ve just, used, we’ve we’ve moved $50 million to help accelerate that process,” said Secretary Cardona at a congressional hearing on Tuesday.

The program is called Better FAFSA and will be used to help school districts, state, nonprofits and other public and private organizations with efforts to boost FAFSA completion.

The program’s launch comes after changes to FAFSA caused a series of delays throughout this year’s application process and frustrated many parents.

“It’s catastrophic and I don’t exaggerate much, I’m not a superlative guy it really is probably one of the worst botches I’ve ever seen,” said Shayne Cokerdem, who’s son is a freshman at Babson College.

Cokerdem spent two-and-a-half months trying to fill out the overhauled application but encountered numerous errors and system crashes. It took him nearly 50 times to try to submit the form before he was successful, but still he has no idea how much his son’s tuition will cost for the 2024-2025 school year.

“We are waiting, and we don’t have any information from Babson College right now. I mean, we have no idea how much it’s going to cost next year,” he said.

Many colleges are now still processing applications and reviewing aid and have pushed back deadlines because of the FAFSA issues.

The form was supposed to be simpler but because of the tumultuous rollout, FAFSA application completions are down, prompting criticism from many lawmakers in Washington.

“May 1st should have been college decision day, but instead students are still stuck waiting for financial information paralyzed by your ineptitude,” said Rep. Rep. Virginia Foxx, (R-NC) during the congressional hearing that Secretary Cardona attended on Tuesday.

“30 percent of what they’re sending out is incorrect. So so it takes a lot of work to get this right. They’ve been doing all their work on something they shouldn’t be doing. which is, you know, how do you cancel student loan debt,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA).

Some lawmakers like Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) have even raised concerns about next year’s FAFSA and wrote a letter to Secretary Cardona about their concerns with signs that it will face similar issues to the 2024-2025 application.

Sen. Cassidy said he has also been speaking with university leaders who are frustrated and worried about how the FAFSA problems will impact their finances.

“We’re also hearing on the side from universities. Some of the universities are going to have a cash flow problem. Keep in mind that 30 percent of what’s already out there has to be reprocessed. So there’s going to be a significant number of students who don’t know if they have financial aid,” he said.

Cassidy is a ranking member on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and said it has launched a hotline form on their website to assist families experiencing complications with FAFSA.

The form by accessed by visiting help.senate.gov/fafsa.

To learn more about how the Department of Education is assisting families with FAFSA, visit Ed.gov/better-FAFSA.

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