The U.S. Department of Education jeopardized access to financial aid for millions of college students and their families — all because it failed to create a useful online form.
In what may be the biggest online government misstep since HealthCare.gov launched in 2013, the updated Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online form is riddled with glitches, angering families and colleges.
The FAFSA form is required for students seeking federal loans and grants, but it is also important for students who do not plan to receive federal funds because the vast majority of U.S. colleges use it to determine institutional financial aid.
The current issue stems from the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which was designed to streamline the FAFSA process. It was a sensible goal, but the department’s botched implementation resulted in so many technical problems that stranded millions of students.
The updated form was “soft-released” on December 31, 2023, more than two months later than the form’s typical release date. Despite the delays, the department is not extending the deadline for families to fill out the forms. Indeed, while the new form is shorter than the previous version—more than half the questions were eliminated by importing parents’ tax data directly from the IRS—the extra time the department spent doesn’t mean it developed an overall on a more practical process. Instead, it issued a questionable FAFSA that many families were outraged about and often failed to complete.
“At one point, the website told me that my daughter and I had started filling out forms, but neither of us had,” financial reporter Ron Lieber said in this New York Times in January. “I hope they wait another year and resolve this before the end of the summer so everyone can have a full school year cycle adjusting to the new tables and formulas for determining aid.”
The form has been plagued by problems in the months since its launch. FAFSA’s website contains a long list of technology complaints, most of which require complex workarounds to resolve.
To add insult to injury, the department revealed in March that some 200,000 completed forms contained inaccurate information and needed to be recalculated. This error affects students who report their own assets, such as personal savings or investments. Failure to include these assets resulted in some students receiving financial aid estimates that were higher than the financial aid for which they were actually eligible.
These issues have a significant impact on FAFSA completion rates. As of mid-April, the number of submissions was down 36%. Typically, more than 15 million students fill out the form each year. The decline means millions of students who might have completed the FAFSA in previous years will now miss out on financial aid.
In a statement in March, the National College Achievement Network warned of “a catastrophic decline in college enrollment this fall, potentially more severe than during the COVID-19 pandemic,” adding that “for many students and families, FAFSA has inexcusable and frustrating technical issues.” January and February. “
Students and families are not alone in their anger. Colleges are also affected, as most rely on the FAFSA form to determine their financial aid packages. Delays in FAFSA information and numerous errors in the data make it difficult for colleges to provide aid to admitted students.
Marc M. Camille, President of Albert Magnus College Washington post Delays in providing information to students and inaccuracies in the information received by colleges “became frightening”.
“On the one hand, you want to take it at face value, if we receive [records,] “They are accurate. But the data we have received so far has errors,” Kamil said.
Rather than simplifying the FAFSA process, the department has made it more complex, adding stress to an already arduous process. With the government unable to create a practical form, the financial future of millions of students hangs in the balance.
This article originally appeared in the print edition under the headline “The Department of Education screwed up the FAFSA.”
