The Future of FAFSA

The Upcoming Election May Determine the Future of FAFSA

UPDATED: 10/28/24

The presidential election is a critical day for the Department of Education (ED) and the future of the FAFSA. A future that will be shaped not only by the winner of the presidency but also by control of the Senate.

A Trump Win

Donald Trump has indicated his intention to eliminate the department should he be successful in the election.

Without eliminating ED, Mr. Trump would be poised to restrict its reach.

One of the contributing factors to ED’s poor implementation of the FAFSA Simplification Act was working with a reduced staff and budget cuts that happened when Mr. Trump was in office.

A second term could bring new challenges for ED.

A Harris Win and the Balance of Power

If Kamala Harris is elected the ED will most likely be safe.

The Harris website has a few broad strokes of her higher education plan.

Winning the presidency is not the only challenge Ms. Harris faces. If she is elected president but the Democrats lose control of the Senate, how will the new president form her Cabinet?

It is customary for incoming presidents to replace most, if not all, of the outgoing president’s Cabinet appointees. In the current contentious political environment, it would likely be difficult for quick and easy appointee approval from the Senate.

October 9, 2024 Image No Comments

Categories: Financial Aid PSA

Tags: Paying for College

FAFSA 2025-26 Beta Testing – Update #2

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FAFSA 2025-26 Beta Testing

On Wednesday, September 12, the Department of Education (ED) provided updated details on the next phases of FAFSA 2025-26 Beta testing. ED also released information about the community-based organizations that were selected to participate in FAFSA Beta 1 testing.

As promised this is an update on our FAFSA Beta 1 testing post.

FAFSA Beta 1 Testing

The chosen CBOs are in the states of California, Virginia, Texas, Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

As best we can tell, no organization (see ED release for the list of names) from a mid-west state has been selected in the first round of testing.

Broward County, FL with a population of close to two million residents appears to have the largest pool of students to solicit volunteers. Read More

September 13, 2024 Image

Categories: Financial Aid High School Seniors | College Students

FAFSA 2025-26 – Beta 1

FAFSA 2025- 26 Beta 1 | Update #1

The FAFSA 2025-26 Beta 1 testing is set to begin on 10/01/24.

In our previous FAFSA post, we recapped the events of the 2024-25 cycle as well as the plan for the 2025-26 cycle.

Status Update

We have been informed that FSA has received enough applications from community-based organizations to allow the announced first round of testing to proceed.

This is good news!

An official announcement about the selected organizations is expected from FSA on or about 09/11/24.

The Timeline

According to last month’s announcement, the selected community-based organizations (CBO) should hold their testing sessions on or shortly after 10/01.

If you recall the CBOs were required to submit at least one institution of higher education to which the majority of the testing students would apply.

With these conditions met, FSA should have the ability to test application processing and Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) generation.

This should provide FSA with a clear window into the current status of the system coumminications.

What Happens Next?

Once the initial phase of testing is completed, three more rounds of testing are planned.

Information about phases 2-4 is expected later this month.

It is reasonable to conclude that the next phases will depend on the success of the initial phase.

At this stage, there is no indication the FSA won’t meet its target date of 12/01 for all students to have full access.

Stay Tuned

We will continue to monitor and report on the situation as it unfolds.

With the corrections previously made to the internal and external systems and a slower rollout, everyone is expecting a much better experience this cycle.

September 9, 2024 Image

Categories: Financial Aid