Bill Cassidy - Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee | Official U.S. Senate headshot
Bill Cassidy - Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee | Official U.S. Senate headshot
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued a statement following the Biden-Harris administration’s announcement that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form for the next school year will not be available by the traditional October 1 release date for the second consecutive year. The Department of Education has indicated that the form will be ready in December instead.
“This is completely unacceptable. For the second year in a row, the Biden-Harris administration is going to miss the traditional date to make the FAFSA form available to students,” said Dr. Cassidy. “We saw last year that colleges cannot create financial aid packages without timely FAFSA information. Many students may forgo college when they cannot choose a school because they do not know their eligibility for student aid.”
Dr. Cassidy further criticized the administration's priorities: “While the Biden-Harris administration has once again failed to properly implement FAFSA on time, it has prioritized transferring the burden of college debt onto taxpayers who chose not to go to college or already paid off their loans. It is clear this administration is more worried about buying votes for the November election than ensuring students get the financial aid they need to afford college.”
Traditionally, before 2023, FAFSA forms were available by October 1 each year, allowing sufficient time for students and schools to process applications and financial aid offers ahead of acceptance deadlines. This year, however, DeptEd will not publish a draft FAFSA for comment by March as usual.
Cassidy previously led bipartisan congressional efforts demanding answers from DeptEd regarding these delays and introduced legislation mandating an October 1 deadline for FAFSA availability.
The current situation follows previous issues where DeptEd delayed making this year's FAFSA fully operational until late January and subsequently delayed providing information to colleges until March. In April, it was revealed that approximately 30 percent of submitted FAFSAs had processing or data errors and were not corrected until after May 1—impacting many students' ability to receive timely financial aid offers.
For further updates from HELP Republicans, visit their website or follow them on Twitter at @GOPHELP.
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