Rounds Slams Biden-Harris Administration’s Botched Rollout of FAFSA
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) led a resolution slamming the Biden-Harris Administration’s botched rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2024-2025 school year. The resolution condemns the problematic rollout, calls for the Department of Education (ED) to identify and fix any issues for this year and asks leaders to testify before congressional committees regarding the rollout.
FAFSA historically has opened applications on October 1 of the year prior to the start of the academic school year. For the academic year of 2024-2025, the applications opened 3 months later in December. ED subsequently did not start sending FAFSA data to universities until March. Because of this delay, many students did not receive their financial aid awards until after May 1, 2024, the date that many institutions require students to commit to attending for the fall semester.
For the academic year of 2025-2026, ED has already announced that the applications will again be delayed until December of this year.
“Students and parents must be able to make an informed decision about where they’re attending college before the decision deadline,” said Rounds. “A big piece of this decision is considering how much college will cost them and knowing how much aid they’ll get to help. It’s unacceptable that the Department of Education’s botched FAFSA rollout has hurt America’s students and institutions of higher education. My colleagues and I strongly condemn this massive failure and call on the Department of Education to take necessary steps to fix the FAFSA for this next school year.”
Rounds was joined on this resolution by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).
In January 2024, Rounds joined his colleagues in requesting a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation into the Biden-Harris Administration’s failed FAFSA roll-out. In August 2024, Rounds introduced legislation to offer a new affordable student loan program as an alternative to the current federal aid.
Click HERE for the full resolution.
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