February 23, 2024

After Pressure from Congressman Castro, Department of Education Implements Changes to Fix Ongoing Issues with 2024-2025 FAFSA Rollout

WASHINGTON, DC —This week, following pressure from Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), the Department of Education released a temporary workaround to help students from mixed-status families apply for financial aid for the 2024-2025 school year.

On February 16, Congressman Castro and nearly 100 of his colleagues wrote a letter pressuring the Department of Education to work quickly to solve ongoing challenges with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In their letter, the lawmakers wrote:

“We urge the Department of Education to work expeditiously to resolve the technical issues with the new FSA ID system so that parents and students can successfully submit their completed applications. We also ask you to provide a timeline for resolving this issue; to work with schools and state governments to mitigate the problems; and to conduct outreach to proactively inform students, counselors, and other stakeholders about when families with undocumented parents can expect a solution and how to submit their forms once it's resolved."

The new guidelines set by the Department of Education provide students with a parent or guardian who does not have a Social Security number with a new set of instructions on how to submit their FAFSA paperwork. The Department of Education has promised that technical issues with the FAFSA form will be resolved in the first half of March.

The February 16 letter follows an earlier letter in which lawmakers pressed for answers on how the Department of Education intends to minimize the potential impact of ongoing FAFSA delays on college-bound students and families.

Read the full letter February 16 letter here and below:

Dear Secretary Cardona, 

We write to express our deep concerns about the rollout of the 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Specifically, we urge you to expeditiously resolve the current issue facing students whose parents do not have a Social Security Number (SSN). As a result of changes to the FAFSA application, tens of thousands of U.S. citizen students and others with legal status – who are eligible for financial aid regardless of their parents’ legal status – cannot submit their forms. 

We appreciate that the Department of Education (ED) launched a redesigned FAFSA form under the FAFSA Simplification Act, which should ensure 610,000 more students from low-income backgrounds receive Federal Pell Grants. Pell recipients will now receive more aid with nearly 1.5 million more students receiving the maximum Pell Grant. However, we are concerned that the flawed rollout will prevent some applicants from submittingtimely applications, especially the students who face the greatest barriers to access an education. 

As you know, the redesigned form was delayed several months, leaving students with significantly less time than usual to complete their forms and apply to their desired schools. Once it eventually launched in December, many applicants struggled to access or submit the form. We understand that the Department of Education (ED) will now further delay sending students’ FAFSA data to schools while it fixes an issue with the Student Aid Index Calculation. 

In particular, we wish to highlight that one of the most serious issues with the new form is that parents who do not have a SSN cannot enter their information. The redesigned form was intended to allow parents or spouses to create a Student Aid account and submit their application without a SSN; however, the new system is returning error messages that prevent students from submitting their applications. According to the Federal Student Aid website, there has not been an update to this SSN issue since January 4, 2024. 

We urge the Department of Education to work expeditiously to resolve the technical issues with the new FSA ID system so that parents and students can successfully submit their completed applications. 

We also ask you to provide a timeline for resolving this issue; to work with schools and state governments to mitigate the problems; and to conduct outreach to proactively inform students, counselors, and other stakeholders about when families with undocumented parents can expect a solution and how to submit their forms once it's resolved.

Although some colleges have begun pushing back their decision deadlines, many colleges are still awarding financial aid on a first-come, first-served basis. As you know, several states including Alaska, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Washington operate as first-come first-serve states. This aid dispersal method used by state schools means the faster a student submits their application, the better their chances of receiving larger award packages. It is imperative that FAFSA resolves these technical problems to ensure eligible students receive the financial aid they need to pursue a higher education. 

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter, and we look forward to your response no later than February 23, 2024. 

Members signing the letter:?Pete Aguilar (CA-33), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Brendan Boyle (PA-02), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Yadira Caraveo (CO-08), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Tony Cárdenas (CA-29), André Carson (IN-07), Greg Casar (TX-35), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Judy Chu (CA-28), Lou Correa (CA-46), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Lloyd Doggett (TX-35), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Valerie Foushee (NC-04), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), John Garamendi (CA-08), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-07), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Robin Kelly (IL-02), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Andy Kim (NJ-03), Barbara Lee (CA-12), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Kathy Manning (NC-06), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Grace Meng (NY-06), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Grace Napolitano (CA-31), Joe Neguse (CA-02), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Frank Pallone (NJ-06), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Donald Payne Jr. (NJ-10), Scott Peters (CA-50), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Katie Porter (CA-47), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Raul Ruiz (CA-25), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Linda Sánchez (CA-38), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Adam Schiff (CA-30), Adam Smith (WA-09), Darren Soto (FL-09), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Greg Stanton (AZ-04), Haley Stevens (MI-11), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Mark Takano (CA-35), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Norma Torres (CA-35), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Lori Trahan (MA-03), David Trone (MD-06), Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Gabe Vasquez (NM-02), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Frederica Wilson (FL-24)

Organizations endorsing the letter:?American School Superintendents Association (AASA), California Community Colleges, City Colleges of Chicago, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, College of DuPage, HANA Center, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), Illinois Head Start, Immigration Hub, ImmSchools, Instituto del Progreso Latino, Latin American Recruitment and Educational Services (LARES) at University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), Moraine Valley Community College, Morton College, National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), National Education Association (NEA), National Federation of Teachers (NFT), National Immigrant Law Center (NILC), Northeastern Illinois University, The Education Trust, Western Illinois Dreamers, American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC)

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