On November 15th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 8932, FAFSA Deadline Act, a proposed legislation that would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965. It requires the FAFSA to be available by October 1st and mandates that the Department of Education certify its launch by September 1 or testify before Congress if they believe that the application will be delayed. The legislation comes after years of delays and other issues throughout the FAFSA Simplification process led to fewer applicants receiving aid that they were otherwise eligible for according to the House Education and the Workforce Committee.
The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support during Friday’s roll call and passed 381-1; however, California Representative Zoe Lofgren claimed that she accidently voted against the measure and supports the new regulations. North Carolina Representative Virginia Foxx, the committee’s Chairwoman, praised the bill’s passage as a first step towards ensuring that students have access to federal aid and are not penalized each year because of the Department’s bureaucratic failures. Despite their initial concerns, members of the Democratic caucus fully supported H.R. 8932 once the legislation was brought to a floor vote after October 1st and would not adversely impact the rollout of the 2025-26 FAFSA application.
The FAFSA Deadline Act now goes to the U.S. Senate, where it may be amended before it finally goes to the White House for the President’s signature. If passed in its current form, the Department will have less than a year to implement the new requirements.
SOURCE: Houses Passes FAFSA Deadline Act