H.R. 8932, also known as the FAFSA Deadline Act, is federal law now that it has the President’s signature. The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support with a 381-1 vote in the House of Representatives on November 15 and then passed unanimously in the Senate one week later.
The bill requires the FAFSA to be available by October 1 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.
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 1 and would not adversely impact the rollout of the 2025-26 FAFSA application.
The bill will go into effect with the 2026-27 FAFSA application, set to begin in Fall 2025.