Education Department Criticized for Botched FAFSA Rollout

A GAO report reveals significant leadership failures and technical issues in the Education Department's new FAFSA launch, impacting thousands of students.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released two reports detailing the Education Department's mishandling of the new FAFSA rollout.
The FAFSA launch faced numerous delays, with electronic processing starting 161 days late and paper forms delayed by 305 days.
Over 40 technical issues were reported, including problems that prevented some students from completing or starting the application.
Three-quarters of the 5.4 million calls to the Education Department's help line went unanswered due to understaffing.
Leadership turnover and poor contractor oversight were major factors in the rollout's failures, with six chief information officers in three years.