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FAFSA form delayed again as Houchin pushes bill for stricter deadline

By Aubrey Wright

Posted August 9, 2024

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The 2025-26 FAFSA will open to all students on Dec. 1. (Focal Foto/ Flickr)

For the second straight year, parents will have to wait longer than usual to complete the form that determines college students’ financial aid.

And Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN) is upset about it.

After last year’s chaotic rollout of what was supposed to be a simplified process, the U.S. Department of Education said FAFSA — which stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid — won’t be available to the public until Dec. 1. That’s two months later than usual.

Last year, the department didn’t make the form available until Dec. 31 and failed to quickly correct issues preventing students from receiving the correct amount of aid.

During a hearing on the rollout of the new FAFSA form in April, Houchin said she and her children in college experienced issues with the process. She called the Biden Administration “incompetent” for its handling of the matter.

“We have to consider now how the Department of Education will be held to account and how we can ensure that they will support students and universities moving forward,” Houchin said.

Last month, Houchin introduced the FAFSA Deadline Act, which would require the Department of Education to open the application on Oct. 1 every year. The House Education and Workforce Committee moved the bill forward.

There are, however, five higher education groups that urged U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to extend the deadline this year if that will ensure a reliable process.

The organizations are the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators; the National College Attainment Network; the National Association for College Admission Counseling; the National Association of State Student Grant & Aid Programs; and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association.

“Meeting deadlines is critically important; just as important is transparency about when deadlines will not be met,” the organizations wrote in a letter to Cardona.

Cardona said the education department “made substantial changes to leadership and operations at Federal Student Aid” this year.

“I look forward to continuing to work with our partners to ensure this school year’s FAFSA implementation better serves our nation’s students,” Cardona said.

The Department of Education announced the Dec. 1 availability date for this year’s form on the four-year anniversary of the FAFSA Simplification Act, which was supposed to make it easier for families and students to navigate a notoriously complicated process.

FAFSA filing is down nationwide. It has increased in Indiana — but is still short of the state’s goal for high schoolers.

Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on X @aubreymwright.