WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Four million missed calls and about 432,000 fewer FAFSA applications later, the Government Accountability Office says the Department of Education’s rollout of the recent FAFSA program has hit lower-income students the hardest.
“These are the families who need education to build an economic future,” said Melissa Emrey-Arras, director of education, workforce and income security at the Government Accountability Office.
The GAO shared the findings of its recent report on the implementation of the FAFSA during a House hearing on Tuesday, describing delays and website problems that went unaddressed for months.
“If you were born in 2000, for example, you simply couldn’t continue,” Emrey-Arras said.
The report also found that the department knew there might be delays as early as August 2022, but did not announce it until March 2023.
“Unfortunately, the implementation of the law has been hampered by a series of errors by the Department of Education,” said Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson of Florida.
Both Republicans and Democrats expressed concern about the FAFSA deadline next school year, which has already been pushed back to December.
“Nothing I have seen or heard about federal student aid inspires confidence that the system is in order,” said Republican Rep. Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania.
Beta testing for the 2025–26 FAFSA is scheduled to begin next week.
“They made verbal promises to us,” said Marisol Cruz Cain, director of the GAO’s Information Technology and Cybersecurity Team. “But we have not seen any documents that indicate what the testing plans would look like.”
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona assures college leaders that the next FAFSA will be better. letterHe wrote that the ministry was “determined to learn from the challenges” of last year’s launch and make improvements.
