WASHINGTON — The application form for federal student financial aid must be made available by Oct. 1 of each year after President Joe Biden’s admission signed the bill Wednesday to provide an earlier processing cycle.
Though Free Application for Federal Student Aidor FAFSA, is typically launched in October each year, by law the U.S. Department of Education had until January 1 to release the form.
The new law went into effect when the department took over his case failed implementation form for 2024-2025 when users encountered a number of glitches and errors. The form was only officially launched in January.
Adding fuel to the fire, the agency announced earlier this year that it would take a staggered approach to the 2025-2026 form to be able to address issues that might arise before applications are available to everyone, making the form available again later than usual.
After testing stages which began on October 1, the department fully debuted the 2025-2026 form in tardy November – 10 days before its official December 1 launch.
A department spokesman said it is “committed to enforcing all laws duly enacted by Congress” when asked about Biden signing FAFSA.
Meanwhile, the department said Thursday it has received more than 1.5 million FAFSA filings for 2025-26 and has provided more than 7 million student records to states and schools.
U.S. Education Undersecretary James Kvaal said that even with these developments, the department’s work is “not yet done.”
“We will continue to fix bugs and improve the user experience to make it easier for students and families to get the financial aid they need,” Kvaal said during a call with reporters Thursday about updating the form for 2025-2026.
The FAFSA deadline bill has passed Congress
The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support and was quickly passed by both the House and Senate in November. Indiana GOP Rep. Erin Houchin, a member of the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee, introduced the legislation in July.
Senator Bill Cassidy, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, introduced the Senate version of the bill. The Louisiana Republican is expected to chair the panel next year.
Rep. Bobby Scott, a member of the House education panel, celebrated the bill’s passage on Wednesday.
(*1*) the Virginia Democrat said in a statement.
Scott said that by harmonizing the deadlines, it “gives students and families more time to complete applications and secure the financial support they need to attend college without unnecessary delays.”
The 2024-2025 application was revised after Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in tardy 2020, but it faced several issues that resulted in processing delays and reporting gaps.
Department staff have been working to fix these errors and fill gaps in reports from the previous processing cycle, and officials said they were considering how to make improvements to the form for 2025-2026 and beyond.
Last updated at 15:29, December 12, 2024
