What lies ahead for the next FAFSA cycle?
The answer depends on who you ask.
Department of Education (ED) Secretary, Miguel Cardona has pledged that the next FAFSA cycle (2025-26) will be available on time, i.e., the historic October 1 release date.
State agencies, financial aid professionals, and others adversely impacted by this year’s seemingly endless FAFSA hiccups are not confident.
Who can blame anyone for being doubtful after eight months of continual delays, system crashes, and incorrectly calculated data to name just a few of the many problems?
What Went Wrong with This Year’s FAFSA?
What didn’t go wrong would take less time to answer.
This year’s FAFSA not only missed the bullseye, it missed the dartboard.
Read our previous posts that chronicled the lead-up and launch of the new FAFSA.
One goal of the FAFSA Simplification Act was to make applying for college financial aid less complicated and time-consuming.
The streamlined application should have led to an increase in applications. In most cases, the opposite has occurred.
Click to enlarge.
In almost every state FAFSA filings are down – by double digits for some.
Confidence in the ED and the Federal Student Aid (FSA) process has been shattered.
It’s not just high school seniors and current college students who suffered the impact of the problematic rollout.
Many colleges and universities are scrambling to register students. The Delaware College of Art and Design will cease operation this fall – citing the issues with FAFSA as a contributing factor in the decision.
At this point, let’s look forward to a much better launch for the next FAFSA cycle.
What’s Happening Behind the Scenes?
Until this year, students and families didn’t need to be familiar with the many groups and agencies that work on the processing side of the FAFSA.
This year has been a game-changer.
College-bound families should be aware of the groups working behind the scenes to make the #BetterFAFSA that Secretary Cardona touts a reality.
Recent Developments
- On 04/10 the House Committee on Education & the Workforce held a hearing to learn from college financial aid professionals the scope of the issues they experienced.
- As reported last month, FSA Chief Operating Officer, Richard Cordray will be leaving in June.
- Justin Draeger, President & CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) is leaving on Friday, June 21.
- Financial aid professionals and state agencies submit letters to ED and Congress calling for improvements to the process and reexamination of new policies on income reporting and the elimination of the multi-student benefit.
- College Board president, Jeremy Singer will oversee the next FAFSA cycle.
Will Mr. Singer Fix the FAFSA?
With his impressive background and success with implementing the digital SAT, Mr. Singer appears to be the right choice to resolve the lingering issues with the FAFSA application and processing of student data.
Terrytoons/20th Century-Fox
If the next FAFSA cycle is to launch on October 1, there is a narrow window of opportunity to right the ship.
On the surface, Mr. Singer can be viewed as Mighty Mouse coming to save the day, but will he be able to learn the FAFSA system, its issues, and set a course correction in less than four months?
Time will tell.
Many of the major glitches experienced in the early days have been corrected but new problems have been seen, and a few old ones remain.
A Possible Pell Grant Increase
Amid so much negativity, it’s time for something positive.
President Biden’s proposed FY 2025 budget includes a $750 increase to the maximum Pell Grant.
The current maximum is $7,395. If approved the new maximum would be $$8,145.
Note: Students attending for-profit schools receive a lesser amount.
Higher education organizations have called for a $13,000 maximum award.
It is unlikely Congress will approve or even consider an increase this large. The $750 increase is more reasonable for approval.
How Will Congress and ED Respond?
Multiple higher education professionals have sent communications to Congress and ED requesting relief for themselves and the families they serve.
Here’s a sample of what’s been transmitted.
Letter to Congressional Committee Members
Congress seems eager to address the FAFSA problems.
No doubt most members have heard from their constituents via email and calls to their offices.
As the situation unfolds information will be posted here or on the Education Unpacked YouTube channel.
Thank you, I’ve just been looking for info about this topic for ages and yours is the greatest I have discovered so far. But, what about the conclusion? Are you sure about the source?
It’s a fluid situation. More questions than answers at this point.
We will continue to monitor and post an update by the end of the month.
You can also check the Education Unpacked YouTube channel for updates. Sometimes it’s quicker to post a short video. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqm69UcKfk4b3UnJBq6fbwQ