The Government Accountability Office called out the U.S. Department of Education over "troubling" issues with its Free Application for Federal Student Aid form.
In congressional testimony released on Tuesday, the GAO blamed the department for significant delays and errors since the new system launched in December. The GAO reported that the education agency's Office of Federal Student Aid had identified and addressed the issues multiple times before the launch. Currently, 20 FSA concerns remain unresolved.
During Tuesday's House Education and the Workforce subcommittee meeting, Marisol Cruz Cain, director of GAO's information technology and cybersecurity team, and Melisa Emrey-Arras, director of the agency's education, workforce and income security issues, expanded on the numerous errors made by the education department.
Both made several recommendations to improve the functionality of the FAFSA form, including making sure all the functionality is tested thoroughly.
"The FAFSA rollout was mired in delays, errors and frustration for some of our most vulnerable students who lost their dreams of higher education," U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, chair of the subcommittee, said in his opening remarks. "The impact of the Biden administration's failure on real lives has been devastating. ... Unfortunately, it has been the low-income students who were hit the hardest."
Emrey-Arras said problems with the 2024-25 FAFSA included a delayed launch, tech issues in inaccuracies, resulting in roughly 432,000 fewer students completing the form compared to the year prior. High school seniors and other first-time FAFSA applicants accounted for a majority of this decline.
Lower-income students and families saw a notably larger reduction in FAFSA submissions, according to Emrey-Arras. Families and students with earnings of $30,000 or less saw the biggest decline in FAFSA submissions among independent students.
Officials told GAO that the current goal is to improve functionality so people can start submitting applications. The office will continue to investigate
The GAO stated that it will continue to investigate FAFSA issues and how the agency has worked to address them.
