The Biden Education Department can’t manage the Fafsa student aid form, but it can rush out more pre-election debt relief
"As college students return to campus, the saga that is the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (Fafsa) continues. In the latest installment, the Education Department on Wednesday announced the form would be delayed again this year. Stay tuned.
Congress in December 2020 enacted a revised and supposedly simpler Fafsa. While the form is usually available by Oct. 1, the department didn’t launch the new form until late last December. The rollout was then beset by technical and bureaucratic mishaps, resulting in many students not getting financial aid offers until the summer.
A new problem cropped up last week when the department informed colleges they would have to submit corrections for student financial aid records individually rather than in bulk as in the past. At least the department acknowledged “the time sensitivity and extra administrative burden for institutions.”
How about an apology to parents and students who may now have to scramble for funds to pay for college before classes start? “Some college students might not have financial aid dollars in their hands in time to start classes in the next few weeks,” said Beth Maglione, interim President of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
On Wednesday came more bad news: The department would launch the Fafsa this autumn in stages with the aim of making it available to all students by Dec. 1—two months later than usual. The Federal Student Aid office has had three and a half years to smooth out wrinkles in the new form. What has it been doing?
Ah, yes. Last week the Education Department alerted student borrowers that it will soon finalize more debt relief, separate from its $475 billion SAVE plan that has been put on hold by the courts and the $168 billion canceled through administrative actions. “President Biden is committed to fixing broken student loan programs,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona wrote. This is hilarious since he runs those loans programs.
The Administration is apparently less interested in fixing the broken Fafsa than fast-tracking debt forgiveness to buy votes before the November election. Here’s the kicker: “If you WANT to be included in potential student debt relief, you don’t need to take any action,” the department told borrowers.
This means the next round of debt forgiveness will be automatic, making it hard for judges to undo if they rule that the forgiveness is illegal. Biden officials are trying to tie the hands of courts and a potential Trump Administration. Why isn’t Donald Trump making an issue about any of this, or the many other examples of Biden-Harris incompetence that go far beyond the southern border?
Take the IRS’s shoddy customer service, flight delays caused by air traffic control mismanagement, or the Food and Drug Administration’s 2022 baby formula shortage. Kamala Harris wants Americans to pay higher taxes to support bigger government, but how about making government work with even a modicum of competence? Mr. Trump could make this a campaign focus rather than Ms. Harris’s intellect or race."
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