The Times Weekly, New
With deadlines approaching on full implementation of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Simplification Act — signed in December 2020 — The Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid has yet to announce the date that the 2024-25 application will be available. Without transparency on the new FAFSA application date, administrators and students could face significant challenges for the 24-25 school year. In response, Steve Colón, CEO of Bottom Line, an organization that partners with degree-aspiring Black and brown students to get into and through college and successfully launch a career, has issued the following statement:
“The Federal student aid program is the financial cornerstone for the majority of students, and nearly nine out of ten Black and brown students, and a transparent and helpful FAFSA application process is vital for smooth course enrollment and college success. We are in the third year of the FAFSA Simplification Act , which was signed into law at the end of 2020 and provided three years to implement. This reform makes significant changes to Federal Student Aid that should have positive impact on the college experience of Black and brown degree-seeking students, such as changing the measure of a families’ ability to pay from the Expected Family Contribution to the Student Aid Index; expanding access to Federal Student Aid –including Pell Grants; and significant updating and streamlining of the FAFSA application form – adding questions about race, ethnicity and sex, linking federal student and financial data directly to the financial aid system, and changing most aspects of the student and administrator interface.
“These changes are all promising, but are they complete? Fall 2023 is coming, and the office of Student Financial Aid has yet to announce when the FAFSA application for 2024-25 will be available, though it is usually available on October 1st. As the National Association of Student Financial Administrators and the National College Action Network point out in a recent letter to the Biden Administration, reports on implementation suggest there may not be enough time for student records to reach FAFSA administrators, and there is still no clear schedule for new software implementation, file formatting and training personnel.
“The most concerning aspect of this lack of clarity on the FAFSA application is the impact it will have on students, especially Black and brown students who access the Federal Student Aid system at a rate of 15 to 20 percentage points higher than white counterparts, who historically carry significantly more student debt through life, and who stand to gain from the FAFSA Simplification Act reforms and expanded access to Federal aid. These reforms were designed with degree-aspiring Black and brown students in mind, and without timely access to the FAFSA application and to trained student aid administrators and a working FAFSA system, their future enrollment, expanded access to college programs, and post-secondary success is most at risk.
“Federal Student Aid should announce the next FAFSA application date, report on the status of FAFSA reforms in preparation for the fall, and consider an extension on financial aid changes if meeting the current deadline will create excessive challenges for students and aid administrators. These reforms are meant to improve the chances of student success — the Biden Administration must make sure they do.”
www.bottomline.org
