WASHINGTON — A measure to ensure federal student aid is open each year by Oct. 1 passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday with overwhelming bipartisan support.

THE effort — which passed 381-1 — came after the U.S. Department of Education faced major backlash following the botched rollout of the 2024-25 school year. Free Application for Federal Student Aidor FAFSA. California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren was the only lawmaker to vote against the bill.

Although the form received a facelift after Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in late 2020, users faced numerous technical issues and errors throughout the form’s soft launch in December and after its debut complete in January, leading to processing delays and submission gaps.

The Department has worked to correct these issues and close this gap while also resolving major issues that prevented parents without Social Security numbers from completing the form.

Adding another complication, the the department said in August it would use a phased rollout of Form 2025-26 to try to correct errors that might arise before it is open to everyone, making the application fully available two months later than usual.

Codified deadline

Although the department legally has until January 1 to roll out the form, it is typically launched on October 1.

U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin, Republican of Indiana and member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, in July presented the bill normalize this delay.

“I’m particularly frustrated given that the Department of Education has had three years to simplify the FAFSA as Congress has dictated,” Houchin said during the floor debate Friday.

She too refers to recent discoveries from the Government Accountability Office, including that nearly three-quarters of all calls to the call center went unanswered during the first five months of the 2024-25 rollout.

“We want this program to work – we want to make sure that children and families who want to send their children to college have the opportunity to do so and that the FAFSA is available and feasible,” she added.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, a ranking member of the House education panel, echoed his support during the floor debate, saying the measure “will help ensure that even more students have the information they need need faster access to Pell Grants and other essential students. help.”

Scott initially opposed the effort when the committee took it up in July, fearing that the implementation delay could force the department to roll out an incomplete form on Oct. 1 of this year.

“However, as we are now considering the bill after October 1, the deadline will apply next year, 2025, which gives the ministry sufficient time to make improvements and resolve ongoing issues,” said the Virginia Democrat.

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, presented a complementary bill in July.

The bill was referred to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, of which Cassidy is a ranking member. After the Republicans won the majority in the Senate in the November 5 elections, Cassidy is online chair the panel next year.

Last updated at 12:36 p.m., November 15, 2024