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The United States Department of Education announced new steps to expedite the processing of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, for colleges during a Monday evening press conference.

The additional steps will include a reduction of verification requirements, suspension of routine school compliance reviews and flexibility on renewing participation in the federal student aid programs, the Monday press release states.

“Our top priority is to ensure students can access the maximum financial aid possible to help them pursue their higher education goals,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said. “These steps reflect the many conversations my colleagues and I are having with college and university leaders, financial elite administrators, students, and parents and others who are on the frontlines of implementing better FAFSA.”

The “better FAFSA” has received nearly 4 million submissions since its soft launch on Dec. 30, Cardona said. He said many applicants are completing the applications in “record time” — 15 minutes or less — and called the previous application process a “long and complex headache” that deterred many students, including himself during his senior year of high school, from securing financial aid.

The Department of Education announced a delay in the FAFSA form on Jan. 30, which may result in colleges not receiving students’ records until March at the earliest. Applicants have reported technical glitches and other obstacles while attempting to use the program. Nearly 57% fewer high school seniors have submitted a new FAFSA form compared to last year’s numbers, according to University Business.

A senior department official said Congress did not provide the “substantial” amount of increased funding requested by the Department of Education to implement “the level of service” it wants to provide to borrowers. He said it is challenging to deliver service to borrowers given the “very, very limited resources” the department has received.

Because of the delays, many higher education groups including the American Council on Education have called on colleges and universities to consider adjusting their financial aid deadlines in the “best interest of students,” a senior department official said during the press conference.

“The lack of resources has been one contributing factor to making (the better FAFSA) as challenging as it has been,” the official said.

To allow colleges and universities to “focus” on implementing the new FAFSA form, Cardona said the Department of Education is suspending new program reviews for colleges through June 2024, except for those related to “serious wrongdoing” like suspected fraud. This will allow institutions to request extensions for responses to program reviews, reports or requests for additional documentation.

The department is also waiving the 90-day requirement for institutions whose program participation agreement expires between now and September 2024, Cardona said.

“Fewer requirements for colleges and universities this spring means more time and resources freed up to deliver financial aid for students and make the most of the better FAFSA,” he said.

To expedite the verification process, the better FAFSA will pull income information directly from tax records through a data exchange with the IRS instead of asking families to submit copies of their tax returns. Cardona said the change will protect against identity fraud while making further income verification for filers unnecessary.

“We are going to bring verification rates to among their lowest ever as we try to balance the need to protect taxpayers against fraud while also freeing up opportunities for colleges and universities,” a senior government official said.

Families without social security numbers are still not able to fill out the online form but can continue to fill out paper forms for the 2024-2025 FAFSA. A senior department official said the department hopes to make the online form available to all families with and without social security numbers in the “coming weeks.”

The Department of Education is allocating $50 million in funding for technological assistance and support, deploying federal personnel to support under-resourced colleges, and setting up a concierge service to help institutions prepare for student financial aid packages, according to the press release.

The department plans to release test versions of Institutional Student Information Records — an electronic federal output document sent to schools by FAFSA on behalf of students — by Feb. 16 to assist schools with preparing their systems to “efficiently” assemble financial aid packages, according to the press release. Cardona said he urges every college to start their testing as soon as the student records become available.

“This is about delivering on the promise of transformational change. It’s about overhauling a broken system that was failing to these students and one that we normalized in this country,” Cardona said. “It’s about making sure the doors of higher education open for so many more students whose lives can be changed for the better but have been deterred by the cost and complexity of the system.”

Published on February 13, 2024 at 6:00 am

Contact Kendall: kaluther@syr.edu