Today, the Office of Federal Student Aid announced a phased implementation
of the FAFSA Simplification Act in what was the first public detail of the planned rollout.
The FAFSA Simplification Act, which NCAN supported, originally required the full implementation of the law by the 2023-24
academic award year. Now, students will wait a year longer to see the changes, until the 2024-25 award year, or the FAFSA that will be released on Oct. 1, 2023.
“The news of the delay of full implementation of FAFSA simplification is disappointing as the urgency for students to access need-based aid has only grown since passage of this legislation,” said Kim Cook, executive director of the National College Attainment
Network. “We appreciate that these sweeping changes require attention to detail and upgraded systems to improve, not complicate, the process for students. We will continue to advocate and work with FSA and Congress to strike that balance.”
In more promising news for students, the department provided guidance to “eliminate the effect of” the selective service and drug conviction questions, providing relief for students for the 2021-22 award year – ahead of the statutory deadline. In a companion electronic announcement, the department also reports a repeal of the Subsidized Usage Eligibility Limit (or SULA) for students who will have loans disbursed on or after July 1.
The U.S. Department of Education said it is, “working with Congress to provide FSA with additional flexibility for a phased implementation that would extend to the 2024–25 award year while working to implement some provisions early or as originally planned.
This phased approach will improve the delivery of student financial aid as quickly as possible without limiting FSA’s ability to offer the FAFSA form and to provide federal student aid.”
The Department did not provide detail, beyond a projected implementation date of the 2024-25 award year, about the full implementation of the new Student Aid Index, expanded Pell Grant eligibility formula, or cross-agency data-sharing enacted by the 2019
FUTURE Act.
The FAFSA Simplification Act of 2020 will:
Decrease the number of questions on the FAFSA.
Improve and expand the process for transferring financial information from the IRS.
Establish minimum and maximum Pell grant thresholds to improve early awareness and expand Pell eligibility.
Remove barriers to accessing financial aid such as selective service registration and the prohibition on receiving federal financial aid after a drug conviction.
NCAN has long championed the FAFSA simplification, early awareness of aid eligibility, and removal of barriers to aid achieved by this new law.
While the full implementation of these improvements is now two years away, the changes regarding the selective service and drug conviction question are wins for students.
NCAN members frequently cited the drug conviction question as the largest single-question barrier on the FAFSA. This measure disenfranchised formerly justice-involved individuals and limited their ability to pursue education. Further, the question was
intimidating to students who still retained their aid eligibility but may have had other types of legal run-ins related to drugs.
NCAN will continue our outreach to FSA and Congress on these important matters for students. We will also collect feedback from our members on the implementation of the new law and training needs as these significant changes roll out over the next few
years.
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