Cases & Developments

President Joseph R. Biden signed H.R. 8932, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Deadline Act (the Act), which amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) to make the FAFSA available by October 1, every year, rather than January 1. It also requires the Department to certify to Congress by September 1 whether the FAFSA will be ready by the October 1 statutory deadline, and if it will not be ready on time, then the Secretary of Education may be required to testify before Congress regarding the anticipated (1) failure to meet the deadline, and (2) financial impact on students and families. The Act’s new deadline is effective for the 2025-26 FAFSA cycle.  

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) is soliciting comments addressing State Plans and annual revisions under the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006. The Department proposes to revise the income-contingent repayment plan (ICR) to provide data specifications for the numerators and denominators used to calculate the law’s performance indicators. The proposed revision is to aid in ensuring that the performance indicators are consistent with the statute and reduce collection of potentially duplicative information, give States more time to report outcomes, and improve accuracy and completeness of data. Comments may be submitted through January 2, 2025. 

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) announced the availability for the 2024-2025 FSA Assessments. The Assessments are available to provide institutions with a system of evaluating program compliance and opportunities to correct problems on topics such as: Creating a Policies and Procedures Manual; Consumer Information; Default Prevention & Management; Direct Loans; Federal Perkins Loans: Cancellation, Due Diligence, Forbearance, and Deferment; Fiscal Management; FSEOG; FWS; Institutional Eligibility; Return of Title IV Funds; Satisfactory Academic Progress; Student Eligibility; and Verification.  

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Deadline Act would require the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) to make FAFSA available by October 1, every year, replacing the current January 1 flexibility and imposing a firm statutory deadline of October 1. Further, the bill requires the Department to certify to Congress by September 1 whether or not the FAFSA will be ready by October 1, and if it is not, then the Secretary of Education may be required to testify before Congress regarding (1) the anticipated failure to meet the deadline, and (2) the anticipated financial impact on students and families. The bill passed the Senate and the House unanimously and is now set to be sent to President Joe Biden. 

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) announced that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now available for all students, about ten days before the originally scheduled December 1, 2024, goal. This roll-out follows the four rounds of beta testing the Department engaged in while trying to improve the application’s internal systems and processes. In addition to the release of the application, the Department also released a number of resources to help students, families, and partners who help applicants with FAFSA.

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) announced it has entered into the final beta testing period for the 2025-26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), Beta 4. This new testing period plans to build off the results from the first three beta periods. The final testing period will roll out in two phases: Beta 4 and Expanded Beta 4. Beta 4 is commenced through the same invite-only process the Department filled in the first three beta testing periods. The Department plans to open Beta 4 to any interested student or family before the end of the month as part of the Expanded Beta 4 phase. The Department reported a satisfaction rating for beta participants of 95% to-date and plans to announce the official release of the 2025-26 FAFSA form on December 1, 2024, contingent on the system continuing to operate smoothly with the high volume of users. The Department has released a suite of resources to assist students, families, and counselors, college access professionals, and other advisors in completing and submitting the FAFSA form during the 2025-26 cycle. Regular updates on the Beta 4 testing period can be found on Beta Central.  

The American Council on Education (ACE) sent a letter to the Speaker of the House and Minority Leader of the House offering support for H.R. 8932, the FAFSA Deadline Act. The proposed bill would move up the statutory deadline for the annual release of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) from January 1 to October 1 each academic year. The letter cites overall first-year enrollment declines of 5% this year, which it attributes, at least in part, to issues with the 2024-25 FAFSA. 

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) published guidance on permitted and prohibited access, disclosure, and use of personally identifiable information (PII) from FAFSA by institutions of higher education, state grant agencies, and their respective contractors that receive this information beginning with the 2024-25 FAFSA cycle. The Department wrote that the data in this guidance does not include federal tax information (FTI) and stated that a separate electronic announcement will come in the near future, which provides guidance on permitted and prohibited access, disclosure, and use of FTI by institutions of higher education and state grant agencies. The guidance also reviews what is and is not considered FAFSA data and details by application, award and administrative aid, consent requirements, means-tested benefits, scholarships, support services; FAFSA data in meeting legal requirements; FAFSA data for research; and in response to subpoena.