Washington, DC — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is criticizing the U-S Department of Education for delays in releasing the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.
Grassley, a Republican, says bureaucrats at the ed department have failed to offer clear guidance to students, families and universities on how to navigate the application form, which he says could impact access to aid for many thousands of students, while also penalizing farm families.
Grassley says the redesigned FAFSA was supposed to streamline the federal financial aid process and help one-and-a-half million more students, including over 13-thousand-500 Iowans, to access the maximum Pell Grant award. The new FAFSA was made possible through bipartisan legislation Congress passed in 2020. He says that was three years ago and we’re still waiting.
Federal education officials announced earlier this month the new FAFSA would be available by December 31st, but Grassley says they neglected to specify a date and warned of processing delays in the coming months, escalating uncertainty for students and their families.
Grassley is calling on the department to focus on implementing the simplified FAFSA process, rather than transferring student loan debt to the taxpayers.
