Every year, millions of students rely on student loans and grants to cover the rising cost of college. This year, that number equates to about 17 million Americans.
They fill out the Federal Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA. But this year, the U.S. Department of Education was significantly delayed in processing forms and made a number of serious mistakes.
As a result, most universities have no idea how much financial aid a student or applicant will receive. The students don't know either.
6 fire alarms. It's an EF-5 Tornado. This is a magnitude 9.5 earthquake. It's the Kraken.
That's not an exaggeration. FAFSA forms from high school seniors are down about 27%, or about 500,000 students. It is unclear whether these students will continue their efforts or give up on pursuing university education.
Declining enrollment could put some universities out of business, meaning they would lose not only tuition but also room and board revenue.
Meanwhile, only 7 million FAFSA forms are submitted to colleges, and 15% to 30% of them have errors, depending on recent reports.
Observers who have low ratings of government capacity and competence should view them even lower.
The list of errors and sheer incompetence revealed in recent Congressional testimony before the House Committee on Education and the Labor Force Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development is astonishing. Anyone interested in how we got here and who is responsible should read this damning account.
All the while, as these financial aid experts point out, the Department of Education has provided incomplete and contradictory information on a daily basis, hiding bad news under false headlines of progress.
The general deadline for students to accept a financial aid package and commit to admission is May 1st. Universities around the world are extending deadlines. But that's not enough.
One university president said to me:
It's a real disaster. And I'm concerned that it will have a huge negative impact on our state. Unable to obtain ISIR [Institutional Student Information Records regarding financial aid eligibility]even for continuing students.
We are unable to process summer prizes. I'm not even sure if additional documentation is required to verify if the new student submitted the FAFSA in the fall. …They will not be able to get aid from the states because it is conditional on aid from the federal government.
The cause of these problems were well-intentioned laws. The FAFSA form was long and I was a senator at the time. Lamar Alexander, Republican. (Former Education Secretary) Successfully promoted simplification in December 2020. This was something of a parting gift to the outgoing senator. But making that happen required $1.6 billion in payments to historically black colleges and universities. This is unfair loan forgiveness for Historically Black Colleges and Universities under the HBCU Capital Loan Program.
The Department of Education took years to prepare the simplified FAFSA. Instead, it launched its own illegal, unfair, unpopular, expensive, and often regressive system to shift student loan debt from borrowers to taxpayers.
If the Department of Education had prioritized the FAFSA rollout, more students would have received more financial aid. Instead, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona's legacy will be one of a failed agenda that continues to lose in court on the one hand and reduces access to college on the other.
After shocking testimony before the subcommittee, Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pennsylvania) said, “This in no way makes the argument for keeping the Department of Education any easier.” That's exactly right.
