The announcement was made by Miguel Cardona, the U.S. Secretary of Education. Ministry of Education's new university support strategy 12 February. This plan is intended to assist you with the university process. fafsa Making information easier and simpler.
Cardona said the announcement was a direct response to input from financial aid administrators, university leaders, students and parents. The organization is already working to reduce form submission delays. Since the 2024-25 FAFSA became available Dec. 30, nearly 4 million forms have been submitted, many in record time, Cardona said.
“Our top priority is to ensure that our students receive the greatest amount of financial aid possible to achieve their higher education goals,” Cardona said.
First, Cardona said the department is reducing verification while continuing to fight identity fraud. Each year, the Department of Education selects a portion of FAFSA applicants to be verified by colleges. For example, the university may ask families to provide copies of their tax returns. His new FAFSA captures income information directly from your tax records through a data exchange with the IRS.
In addition, the Department of Education will suspend regular program reviews to check a university's institutional eligibility, financial responsibility, administrative capacity and other requirements, Cardona said. Reviews of all new programs will be suspended until June 2024, except those related to serious misconduct, such as suspected fraud.
“We recognize that these reviews can be a significant effort for universities who must prepare documentation and respond to departmental inquiries at a time when they need to focus on obtaining aid quickly. I understand that,” Cardona said.
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Finally, Cardona said the department will provide additional flexibility and recertification.Currently, institutions must recertify eligibility for federal student aid programs within 90 days. Program participation agreement The Department plans to waive that requirement for institutions whose PPAs expire between now and September 2024.
Cardona emphasized that the Department of Education is struggling to secure large amounts of funding. Cardona said Congress has not provided enough funding to implement these three projects quickly and has not yet submitted a budget for this year.
“The FAFSA is a very difficult project, and a lack of resources plays a part in this,” Cardona said.
Cardona said many institutions and families highlight the challenges of contributing to the FAFSA when parents don't have Social Security numbers. Parents who don't have a Social Security number can only fill out the paper version of the FAFSA, but Cardona hopes to make the online version more accessible in the coming weeks.
The Department of Education also plans to allocate $50 million in technical assistance to cash-strapped universities. The ministry plans to release a test version of student records by February 16 to help educational institutions prepare their systems.
“At the end of the day, it's about delivering on the promise of change,” Cardona said. “This is about overhauling the broken systems that have failed too many students, and it’s about overhauling the systems that we have normalized in this country.”
The UW Financial Aid Office hosts FAFSA Frenzy, a program designed to assist students with the application process. This program will be held every Friday from February through March, and will provide assistance from her team of FAFSA experts to those who want help filling out their applications.
