‘Inexcusable’: Senators grill education secretary over botched FAFSA roll out

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Education Secretary Miguel Cardona says the Department of Education is working around the clock to ensure improvements to the FAFSA process following significant delays and problems with the rollout of a new financial aid form. He said he is working on it.

“There were delays, we had issues with some of the coding, and we had to make changes,” Cardona said.

Lawmakers blamed lawmakers. Cardona spoke about the development at a hearing Tuesday, a day before May 1, which would normally be college decision day for many high school students across the country.

“Many of those who have gone through the trouble to file the FAFSA are still in the dark about what financial aid they will be eligible for in the fall,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-Va.). ” he said.

Many universities across the country have been forced to postpone decision deadlines as some students are still waiting to hear about financial aid offers. Updated forms suffer from delays and errors. Normally, this form would be published in October, but the deadline has been extended to December 2023.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) echoed the frustration of several other senators, calling the developments “inexcusable and inexplicable.”

Cardona told lawmakers that a fix has been made and the form is now being processed accurately.

“We’re making these corrections and processing the information accurately. Frankly, we’re hearing that students are receiving letters,” Cardona said.

Lawmakers expressed concern that the upcoming October FAFSA deadline could be delayed. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) asked Cardona if he could commit to an on-time launch on next year’s FAFSA.

“Our expectation is that we will meet the October 1st deadline,” Cardona said.

Cardona acknowledged the new format of the challenge and said the Education Department is “making every effort to get it right.”

Universities use FAFSA data to award financial aid to students. In 2020, Congress ordered updates to the FAFSA form to simplify it and expand federal aid to more students.