III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 795 

Condemning the botched rollout by the Department of Education of the 

FAFSA Simplification Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2024 

Mr. ROUNDS (for himself, Mr. BARRASSO, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CASSIDY, 

Ms. COLLINS, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. DAINES, Mr. 

LANKFORD, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. RICKETTS, Mr. SCOTT of 

South Carolina, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. WICKER, Mr. BRAUN, and 

Mr. RISCH) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the botched rollout by the Department of 

Education of the FAFSA Simplification Act. 

Whereas the FAFSA Simplification Act (title VII of division 

FF of Public Law 116–260) was intended to make the 

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (referred to in 

this preamble as ‘‘FAFSA’’) simpler and easier to complete for the 2024–2025 academic year; 

Whereas the Department of Education (referred to in this 

preamble as the ‘‘Department’’) reported on May 24, 

2024, that it had processed more than 10,000,000 

FAFSA applications for the 2024–2025 academic year; 


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•SRES 795 IS 

Whereas, in previous years, the FAFSA application for an 

academic year opened on October 1st of the preceding 

year; 

Whereas the 2024–2025 FAFSA launched on December 31, 

2023; 

Whereas, in previous years, the Department sent out student 

FAFSA data to institutions of higher education just days 

after the student filed their FAFSA application; 

Whereas, for the 2024–2025 school year, the Department did 

not start sending student FAFSA data to institutions of 

higher education until the beginning of March; 

Whereas many students did not receive financial aid awards 

until after National College Decision Day on May 1, 

2024; 

Whereas Department officials were aware of implementation 

challenges associated with the rollout of the FAFSA Simplification Act as early as December 2020; 

Whereas students in pursuit of attending institutions of higher education across the United States depend on the resources made available by FAFSA; 

Whereas the FAFSA delays have been particularly burdensome for students in foster care and youth experiencing 

homelessness; 

Whereas the delay in the 2024–2025 FAFSA application 

timeline cut down the time students had to weigh options 

when considering financial components for attending institutions of higher education; and 

Whereas many offices of financial aid in institutions of higher 

education fear that this delay will discourage students 


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•SRES 795 IS 

from attending a college or university in the fall of 2024: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) strongly condemns the delayed and problem3 atic rollout of the FAFSA Simplification Act (title 

4 VII of division FF of Public Law 116–260); 

5 (2) calls for the Department of Education to 

6 take the necessary actions to identify the issues that 

7 led to the botched rollout of the FAFSA Simplifica8 tion Act and fix them for the 2025–2026 Free Ap9 plication for Federal Student Aid cycle; and 

10 (3) urges the Secretary of Education to testify 

11 before the relevant congressional committees regard12 ing the rollout of the FAFSA Simplification Act. 

Æ 


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