Huffman, Raskin, and García Lead 63 Colleagues in Supporting the Department of Education’s Efforts to Increase FAFSA Access and Urging Further Action to Address Delays

June 07, 2024

Washington, D.C. – Today, Representatives Jared Huffman (CA-02), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), and Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04) led 63 of their colleagues in a letter expressing support for the Department of Education’s (DoEd’s) efforts to improve the rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. The lawmakers also urged DoEd to expeditiously resolve remaining barriers to completing the FAFSA form and encouraged DoEd to implement reforms to prevent similar challenges from occurring in future years.

“We commend the Department’s [Student Support] Strategy and the April 30 and May 20 technical fixes addressing barriers for students whose parents or spouses do not have a Social Security Number, but we continue to be concerned that this guidance may prove difficult for students to understand and utilize,” the lawmakers wrote.

“As you know, many of these students are especially vulnerable to disruptions in their education and may never again be in the financial and personal position to attend college, especially considering that many states distribute financial assistance on a first-come, first-served basis,” the lawmakers continued.

“We wholeheartedly support your mission, and we look forward to working with you to connect as many students as possible with the resources they need to attend college,” the lawmakers concluded.

The lawmakers also urge DoEd to make every effort to identify individuals who have been unable to obtain their Federal Student Aid ID, to issue Federal Student Aid Information Center resources that better equip personnel to assist students and to utilize the Department’s existing programs and authority to connect students with any resources that could help address financial aid opportunities they may have missed. The letter additionally includes asks for DoEd to disseminate resources and guidance to state education agencies and institutions to assist them in processing FAFSA backlogs, with particular attention to ensuring that students who submitted paper FAFSA forms receive the full measure of financial aid that they are entitled to.

The letter also encourages DoEd to create a secure online identity verification portal before the 2025-2026 FAFSA award year.

The lawmakers were joined by 63 colleagues, including Representatives Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Brendan Boyle (PA-02), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Tony Cárdenas (CA-29), Greg Casar (TX-35), Sean Casten (IL-06), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Judy Chu (CA-28), Jim Costa (CA-21), Christopher Deluzio (PA-17), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Anna Eshoo (CA-16), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Daniel Goldman (NY-10),  Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-07), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Henry Johnson (GA-04), Robin Kelly (IL-02), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Barbara Lee (CA-12), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Doris Matsui (CA-07), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Betty McCollum (MN-04), James McGovern (MA-02), Grace Meng (NY-06), Joseph Morelle (NY-25), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Grace Napolitano (CA-31), Eleanor Norton (Del-DC), Frank Pallone (NJ-06), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Scott Peters (CA-50), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Katie Porter (CA-47), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Deborah Ross (NC-02), Gregorio Sablan (Del-MP), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Linda Sánchez  (CA-38), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Adam Schiff (CA-30), Adam Smith (WA-09), Darren Soto (FL-09), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Greg Stanton (AZ-04), Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), David Trone (MD-06), Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Gabe Vasquez (NM-02), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07) and Susan Wild (PA-07).

Read the full letter here.