By Catherine Brown, Senior Director, Policy and Advocacy
Reading time: Six minutes
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) remains one of the nation’s most important tools for ensuring access to higher education. Seniors who complete the FAFSA are 84% more likely to enroll in postsecondary education immediately
after high school. For students in the lowest socioeconomic quintile, that likelihood jumps to 127%. And yet, even before last year's complications, many students struggled to complete the form. Just 58% of the high school graduating
class of 2023 submitted a FAFSA, leaving at least $4 billion in federal student aid unclaimed.
These challenges were only exacerbated by the troubled rollout of last year’s FAFSA, which further limited access to financial support for students who need it most. As of October 4, 2024, there was a 8.9% drop in FAFSA completions by high school seniors compared to the last academic year.
In June, the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) published a list of four fixes needed to ensure a smooth FAFSA release this fall. We published
an update in August. Lots has happened since - Federal Student Aid (FSA):
Began a phased-in beta testing period and selected NCAN member organizations to participate by helping students complete the form
Completed phase one of beta testing and launched phase two.
Beta testing provides an important opportunity to stress test the system, identifying and resolving issues that emerge for a subset of students and/or contributors. As a result of this process and the ongoing preparations for the December release,
some of the issues our team identified in June have been resolved and new issues have emerged. Here is a chart that describes the key policy issues NCAN is advocating to have addressed, along with the status of each. This chart will be updated on
an ongoing basis.
Issue
Description and Recommendation
Status
Confirm the FAFSA release date
A public FAFSA release date helps the college access field prepare to support students and helps colleges and universities prepare to efficiently prepare financial aid award packages so that students can make informed decisions. NCAN joined partner organizations in July in calling for the form to be released when it is user-tested, fully functional, and allows for processing within one-to-three days. Click here for more information about our advocacy efforts to secure a certain release date.
Resolved: FSA announced in August that the FAFSA will be released on December
1, 2024.
Modify the language for the “unsubsidized loan only” question
This question is designed to allow certain dependent students to signal that their parent(s) will not cooperate in providing information to complete the FAFSA. FSA has indicated that the volume of students who chose "yes" for this question
was extraordinarily high, suggesting that students were misinterpreting the question. To avoid lengthy FAFSA corrections, NCAN recommended rewording the question, setting the default answer to “no,” and providing detailed help text to
students who attempt to change the answer to “yes” to ensure they understand the limited circumstances under which it applies.
Resolved: FSA changed the question wording and added help text, bringing the percent of applicants
responding yes to <1%.
Begin processing paper forms immediately upon launch
Students who are incarcerated or otherwise unable to complete an online form should not have to wait for their FAFSAs to be processed.
Under consideration. FSA has started processing corrections for paper FAFSAs for AY 24-25.
Reinstate weekend hours and expand call center capacity
Students and their families rely on the FSA Information Center to navigate the FAFSA process, especially when they encounter complicated issues like incorrect SSNs or Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers. But many students have difficulty even getting
through to speak to these knowledgeable professionals. FSA’s decision to end weekend hours puts an unnecessary roadblock in their way. The call center should be open seven days a week, with plenty of highly trained staff available to resolve
problems promptly. This includes ensuring multilingual operators are available to support non-English speakers. FAFSA completion hinges on accessibility, and limited hours are an obvious step in the wrong direction.
Under consideration: FSA has heard our recommendation and is determining how to proceed.
Release key outreach tools and resources
One of the promises of the FAFSA Simplification Act was the idea that students would be able to see whether they are eligible for a Pell Grant in a very simple table based on their family size, the state in which they live, and their adjusted
gross income. FSA should release the simplified Pell Look-Up Table as soon as possible so that counselors and students can use this tool to see that college is within reach.
FSA should also release a training toolkit that includes screenshots and difficult and complicated scenarios to help students and counselors figure out how to navigate the form. One specific tool that is needed is a flow chart to help
students who have a contributor who does not have a SSN determine what is needed for them to complete the form. NCAN has also called for the federal student aid estimator, the FAFSA demonstration site, and eligibility and technical
guides to be released by early November, ensuring that school counselors and college access professionals have the lead time they need to effectively support students.
In progress: The FSA estimator and Student Aid Index and Pell Eligibility Guide have been updated. A training toolkit, screenshots, demonstration site and Pell Look-up Table will be forthcoming. FSA is also considering a technical fix to help students who have one parent without an SSN and
one with one complete the form.
Allow more flexible matching of address information
To complete a FAFSA, a students’ parents, guardians, or spouse (called “contributors”) must consent to have their tax and asset information pulled from the IRS to auto populate the FAFSA, a process that shortens the time it takes to complete
the FAFSA while reducing the need for the extra, onerous step of income verification. Unfortunately, to match with IRS data, the contributor’s address must precisely match what they used when they created their FSA ID. This requirement
means that if someone spelled out the word “Street” when creating their FSA ID, and their child uses the common abbreviation “St.,” the records will not match. FSA needs to allow for more flexibility in addresses so that small differences
in spellings and the use of common abbreviations don’t impede a family’s ability to complete the form.
Under consideration
Streamline the FSA ID process
While FSA has announced that contributors without SSNs will not need to complete the identity verification process to submit a FAFSA this year,
it’s still necessary for the agency to address the persistent issues with this process. Currently, individuals
without SSNs must manually enter their tax information, making an already complex task even more burdensome. Students and their families need a more streamlined FSA ID process—one that can be completed quickly, and that allows tax information
to be imported directly from the IRS. Fixing the FSA ID process will require developing an online verification form and building an online portal that allows contributors without SSNs to upload their proof of identity. The benefits to
students will be well worth the effort. FSA should also commit to eliminating the current identity verification backlog by the end of 2024.
In progress: FSA has said they are working on this issue, but it will take time.
Address remaining issues in contributor matching process
Some students trying to invite their parents or spouse to contribute to the FAFSA, and vice versa, still face challenges getting through the FAFSA process. Contributors also sometimes find themselves not matched with the student's FAFSA when they log in, despite having received the email invitation. It’s imperative that this process works smoothly prior to the December 1 public launch.
In progress
Resolve all known issues
While the 2024-25 form is working for most students, there are still 22 known issues listed on the FSA Knowledge Center. As a result, students are still having to use a lot of unintuitive workarounds to complete the form. By the time the form opens widely on December 1, all workarounds and known issues listed on the Knowledge Center should be resolved.
In progress
Over the next few weeks, policymakers must do everything in their power to ensure the truncated FAFSA process runs smoothly, maximizing the number of students who can access this essential gateway to higher education. Time is short, and the stakes
are high, so immediate action is needed to avoid repeating last year’s failures.
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