Amid heavy criticism of the 2024-2025 FAFSA rollout, the Department of Education plans to modernize FSA. In a letter sent May 30th to staff members, Secretary Cardona announced initiatives to address several areas of improvement such as how leadership structures organizational workflows, improving technological infrastructure, and creating better systems of accountability.
The list of initiatives include:
- Searching for a new Chief Operating Officer (COO) for FSA.
- Hiring an independent consulting firm to make recommendations to the COO and the Secretary on ways to improve the design, structure, and processes within FSA, with a focus on building an updated organizational structure and workflow.
- Conducting a full-scale review of FSA’s current and historical organization, management, staffing, workflow structures, business processes, and operations to continue bringing the federal financial aid system into to the 21st century.
- Creating a new IT innovation team empowered to lead information technology design to support the digital transformation of the organization. This new team will oversee recruitment of top engineers, project managers, and designers who will bring critical information technology expertise and experience to strengthen FSA’s work in this area.
- Continuing robust outreach efforts to parents, students, colleges, and community organizations, and conduct listening sessions with them this summer.
- Seeking input from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and engaging Members of Congress, whose constituents receive services from FSA.
- Restructuring senior leader reporting protocols to increase accountability and make sure we provide the best value to the agency and protect taxpayers’ resources.
- Reviewing contracts and acquisition procedures to ensure contracts are appropriately structured to hold vendors accountable for meeting key deadlines, achieving desired outcomes, and providing the best value to the agency and protecting taxpayers’ resources.
Secretary Cardona reiterated his office’s commitment to making higher education more accessible: “As we implement these changes at FSA, we remain committed to ensuring its core functions continue. From administering the FAFSA®, awarding Pell Grants and campus-based aid, managing student loans, overseeing more than 5,000 institutions of higher education, and more—we are working tirelessly to help all students have access to the resources they need to attain higher education.”
SOURCE: Secretary Cardona Outlines Steps to Modernizing the Office of Federal Student Aid