Students can now apply for federal college aid. Officials hope for a smoother rollout this year

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal FAFSA form used to apply for college financial aid opened to high school seniors nationwide on Thursday, a year after a disastrous rollout by the Biden administration delayed the application for months.

After weeks of testing, the Education Department says there have been no major problems with the online form. It’s opening to the public later than the traditional Oct. 1 start date, but far sooner than last year's late January launch. The department promised this year's form by Dec. 1.

“After months of hard work and lots of feedback from students, schools and other stakeholders, we can say with confidence that FAFSA is working and will serve as the gateway to college access and affordability to millions of students," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Thursday.

Through four rounds of testing, more than 140,000 students have submitted the form, and their information has been sent to more than 5,200 colleges, the department said.

An overhaul last year was meant to simplify the famously complex form, but technical problems blocked students from submitting forms or bungled the calculations.

The federal government uses student applications to determine their eligibility for financial aid, and colleges and states use it to award their own scholarships. The delays left students wondering how much financial aid they could receive, a crucial factor for many families.

Advocates say the frustration probably led thousands of students to give up on going to college at all. This fall, U.S. colleges saw a 5% decrease in freshmen enrollment over the previous year, and it was deeper at colleges with large numbers of low-income students, according to the National Student Clearinghouse.

The Education Department said it fixed last year’s problems and hired an additional 700 call center workers to help families if they have trouble submitting the form.

This week the Senate and House unanimously passed legislation requiring the Education Department to make the FAFSA available no later than Oct. 1.

The Biden administration drew bipartisan scorn over its handling of the update, with Republicans accusing the administration of focusing on student loan cancellation at the expense of the FAFSA form.

The overhaul came after Congress passed legislation in 2020 to simplify the form. The Education Department was ordered to reduce the number of questions from more than 100 to about 40, and change the formula to expand aid to more students.

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