The U.S. Education Department faced significant challenges in this year's financial-aid process, primarily due to a delayed start in processing FAFSA submissions. The delay was partly caused by an omitted inflation adjustment, which led to widespread issues for students, parents, and colleges. Internal documents obtained by The New York Times reveal that top education officials were warned as early as 2020 about the potential hurdles in overhauling the FAFSA system. Despite these warnings, the rollout was poorly executed, leaving many stakeholders in a difficult situation. Senator Mark Warner expressed his concern over the rollout, convening administrators, counselors, and impacted students to discuss the issues and potential solutions. There are also troubling signs that the problems could persist into the next year, dubbed 'FAFSA Fiasco 2.0'.
Top Education Officials Were Warned of FAFSA Overhaul Hurdles in 2020 Documents obtained by The Times show the department’s troubled FAFSA rollout this year came in spite of early warnings that the project required sustained attention. https://t.co/VcGFrQ2tOu
The Education Department’s troubled FAFSA rollout this year came in spite of early warnings that overhauling the system used to calculate student aid offers would be a major undertaking, according to internal documents obtained by The New York Times. https://t.co/qhSJaQke2N
I’m disturbed by the poor rollout of the new FAFSA, which has left students, parents, and colleges in the lurch. I convened administrators, counselors, and impacted students to hear more about their troubles and share ideas for how we can prevent this from ever happening again. https://t.co/YDXbAI9w3k
New post from @morganmundum FAFSA Fiasco 2.0? Troubling signs about the potential for a second bad year https://t.co/S7g1t6ulQ5 https://t.co/zjUKshK6Ap
Inside this year’s chaotic financial-aid process: The Education Department got a late start processing Fafsa submissions in part because of an omitted inflation adjustment https://t.co/DzMUdzAV7I https://t.co/DzMUdzAV7I
If you're in higher ed, you've likely heard about this issue this year, but this is a great deep dive: "Chaos Plagued This Year's Financial-Aid Process. How the Government Botched the Rollout." https://t.co/ZsxI1e5Wk6
Chaos Plagued This Year’s Financial-Aid Process. How the Government Botched the Rollout. https://t.co/3x8rXA6Jkh