WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) issued a statement following reports of additional FAFSA failures:
“Amidst ongoing and newfound FAFSA errors, it's evident the administration's focus on free college is overshadowing good governance. If the Education Department exercised due diligence and proper data testing, this latest mishap, along with countless others, could have been prevented or caught years ago. After months upon months of the Department’s mistakes and delays, institutions, families, and states are left questioning whether ANY data coming from the administration is accurate. Instead of doing its job, the administration has focused its time, energy, and resources on its illegal student loan scheme. In fact, this week the department ironically claimed its student loan proposal would help address the ‘anxiety’ of affording college. Instead of putting the cart before the horse, why doesn’t the administration address the millions of anxious families struggling with FAFSA and focus on an accurate, timely, and working FAFSA? What’s worse, given the rate of these failures it is highly likely that we’ll see similar issues come to light during next year’s FAFSA.
“Let’s not forget that Biden’s student loan policies do nothing to address the high cost of tuition. In fact, ‘forgiving’ loans (a nonsensical term since loans don’t disappear but instead are forced upon taxpayers) will increase borrowing because the administration is sending the signal that loans will never have to be paid back. In turn, institutions will continue raising prices, forcing students to borrow more and more, all without being held accountable for dismal student outcomes.
“This is yet another instance of the Biden administration steaming out of the harbor in a boat with holes in it, and it underscores the urgency for transparency and accountability in postsecondary education.”
