The law comes after last year’s FAFSA form was released three months late due to significant technical glitches in a new, simplified version of the form. The new form was a result of the FAFSA Simplification Act, which intended to expand the Federal Pell Grant to more students.
Forms for the 2024-2025 school year weren’t released until Dec. 30, and technical issues delayed several users’ access to the form until late January. The form is usually released on Oct. 1
Widespread issues and delays this year with the new, simplified version of the FAFSA prompted bipartisan scrutiny of the Biden administration’s handling of its rollout. Millions of students rely on FAFSA to pay for college.
Last spring, Iowa’s U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, called on the Department of Education’s delays and the effects on Iowan families who own small businesses or farms. Ernst cosponsored the legislation signed into law on Thursday.
Dubbed the FAFSA Deadline Act, the law removes the current release date of Jan. 1 and imposes a release deadline of Oct. 1. The bill also requires the Department of Education to notify Congress by Sept. 1 whether or not the FAFSA will be ready by the deadline.
If the FAFSA form will not be ready by Oct. 1, then the law requires the secretary of education to testify to Congress on the anticipated failure to meet the deadline and the financial impact on students and families.
Students at the University of Iowa experienced a loss of 10 percent of financial aid offers due to the botched rollout, with 13 percent fewer FAFSA applications as of May 17 compared to the same date last year, according to data compiled by The Gazette.
The number of FAFSA forms filed across Iowa is still well below previous years. Ernst said in a Thursday news release that the law will hold bureaucrats accountable to a firm deadline.
“Now that the FAFSA Deadline Act is law, no family should have to worry about bureaucratic blunders derailing their academic ambitions,” Ernst said in Thursday’s news release. “Planning for college is stressful enough, and I’ll continue working to ensure Americans have access to this federal aid tool by Oct. 1, so they have the certainty they deserve.”