Anyone who tried to apply for financial aid using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2024-25 academic year knows how challenging this year was for prospective college students. The U.S. Department of Education Federal Student Aid office badly fumbled the rollout of the "Better FAFSA," a major revamp of the form intended to simplify the application process and expand the number of students eligible for a Pell Grant. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) warned the Department wasn't on track to deliver the form as early as June 2023, and their recent post-mortem investigations highlighted numerous failures in implementing the reform. To highlight a few--the Department launched the form 90 days late, about 74% of calls to the Department's customer service center went unanswered, students with parents who do not have a Social Security number couldn't start an application until early March (three months after other students), and the form still frequently deletes FAFSA drafts or removes signatures.
Authors
- Pages
- 6
- Published in
- United States of America
Table of Contents
- RESEARCH 1
- Katharine Meyer 1
- October 28 2024 1
- Following a rocky rollout of the federal financial aid form last year freshman college enrollment declined five percent. 1
- Whether this yearʼs decline is an anomaly hinges on whether the U.S. Department of Education releases a fully functional financial aid form this December. 1
- Freshman enrollment declined with larger drops for four-year institutions 2
- Percent reduction from previous years enrollment 3
- Source 3
- Note 3
- Overall High Pell share Medium Pell share Low Pell share 3
- Public four-year Private four-year 3
- Overall college enrollment is upthough where students enroll matters 3
- Untangling the FAFSA rollout from other higher education policy shifts 4
- Percent reduction from previous years enrollment 5
- Source 5
- Note 5
- Highly selective Very competitive Competitive Less selective 5
- Public four-year Private four-year 5
- Looking ahead to the class of 2025 6
- AUTHOR 6
