Ranking Member Cassidy on His FAFSA Deadline Legislation Being Signed Into Law

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a statement after his legislation requiring the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form to be available on October 1 was signed into law earlier today. 

“The Biden-Harris FAFSA delays forced students to choose their college without knowing their financial aid status, or not attend college at all because they didn’t know if they could afford it. Students should not have to suffer because of bureaucratic incompetence,” said Dr. Cassidy. “As the incoming chair of the Senate HELP Committee, I will work hand-in-hand with President Trump to dig FAFSA out of the hole the Biden-Harris administration put it in and ensure it works as intended. Students and families depend on it.”     

In 2023, the Biden-Harris Department of Education (DeptEd) blew past crucial deadlines for FAFSA, and students could not fill out the form until months after the annual October 1 launch. This bureaucratic delay resulted in students not receiving their financial aid letters until after the May 1 deadline to enroll. As a result of DeptEd’s FAFSA blunders, 432,000 potential college applicants did not complete the FAFSA form at all last year. In August, DeptEd announced that the FAFSA form for next school year will not be ready until December, delayed months after the normal October deadline.   

Instead of implementing FAFSA correctly, the Biden-Harris administration prioritized its student loan schemes, which transfer nearly $1 trillion in debt onto Americans who chose not to attend college or already worked to pay off their loans.   

###

For all news and updates from HELP Republicans, visit our website or Twitter at @GOPHELP. Click here to unsubscribe.