Ed Division faucets Faculty Board President to supervise FAFSA

The Training Division has tapped Faculty Board president Jeremy Singer to serve in a brand new function overseeing the rollout of subsequent 12 months’s Free Software for Federal Pupil Help.

The information, offered first to Inside Greater Ed, comes as greater schooling teams have grown more and more involved that the company gained’t launch a working FAFSA on time—by Oct. 1—after this 12 months’s utility confronted plenty of delays and technical glitches. Training Secretary Miguel Cardona has repeatedly assured Congress, faculties and households that the shape can be prepared—and that the applying can be higher.

Bringing on Singer, a know-how options skilled who oversaw the event and launch of the brand new digital SAT, is the clearest sign but that the division is shaking up its FAFSA method as a part of different “transformational modifications” on the Workplace for Federal Pupil Help (FSA). The shape is vital to unlocking billions in federal, state and institutional support for tens of millions of scholars.

“I’m honored to affix a staff whose work is significant to households throughout the nation,” Singer mentioned in an announcement Friday. “It’s unattainable to overstate the significance of FAFSA in making school attainable for tens of millions of scholars. I’m wanting to take heed to college students, households and educators who depend on FAFSA. We’ll do all the pieces we will to ship an improved expertise to higher serve college students.”

Singer, who has been president of the Faculty Board since 2013, is a well-known face for faculties and universities, a few of whom have grown skeptical of the Training Division over its dealing with of the FAFSA. Singer can be taking non permanent depart from the Faculty Board to be the FAFSA government adviser. In that function, he’ll lead FSA’s technique on the 2025–26 FAFSA in addition to work with the division “to strengthen inside programs and processes, bolster technical capabilities, and drive innovation to assist guarantee optimum efficiency” of the applying’s launch.

“Jeremy brings deep expertise having efficiently led the event and introduction of main know-how improvements in schooling, which can be integral to enhancing the FAFSA expertise and guaranteeing tens of millions of scholars and households can simply entry the federal monetary support they’re entitled to,” Cardona mentioned in an announcement.

In interviews Friday, Faculty Board trustees praised Singer and his management model, expressing confidence in his capability to proper the FAFSA ship. Derek Kindle, who’s vice provost for enrollment administration on the College of Wisconsin at Madison, mentioned that Singer will carry candor and a solutions-oriented method to Federal Pupil Help in addition to expertise with advanced technological programs and points.

“I feel it’s a sensible and savvy transfer to decide on Jeremy due to his skillset,” he mentioned. “I do know Jeremy is the kind of one that can get in a room, get folks collectively and get them on the identical web page in the direction of the mission.”

Gail Holt, dean of economic support at Amherst Faculty and a Faculty Board trustee, mentioned that Singer is well-versed in what households and establishments want and understands the monetary support timeline.

“So I’m enthusiastic about it,” she mentioned. “It provides me hope and promise at a interval that for a monetary support group has actually been dwindling these many months.”

Following the varied FAFSA delays and challenges, Holt mentioned that her staff at Amherst is “managing and pivoting in addition to might be anticipated.” They’re about midway via getting returning college students their support data.

Having Singer on the helm provides her extra belief within the course of for subsequent 12 months. “I can’t stress sufficient, if he’s received the proper folks with him, which I imagine he’ll, he can set a course that may get us again on observe,” she mentioned. “… The Faculty Board as a complete could be very nicely accustomed to how instruments and assets can create a bridge for college kids to get from secondary college to greater ed to their future.”

Justin Draeger, president of the Nationwide Affiliation of Pupil Monetary Help Directors, mentioned in an announcement that the division wants to make sure the FAFSA errors will not be repeated within the upcoming cycle.

“It’s encouraging to see the division is committing extra assets and manpower to course appropriate for subsequent 12 months, and reassuring to listen to they continue to be dedicated to an October 1 launch,” Draeger mentioned. “It is crucial that the complete system, from utility submission to processing, is operative on October 1, and that the Division clearly articulates that performance to all stakeholders alongside the way in which.”

Along with hiring Singer, the division introduced a collection of listening periods over the approaching weeks to tell how the company can higher help college students, households, faculties, states and different companions through the 2025–26 FAFSA cycle. Moreover, the division mentioned Friday that the applying for 2025–26 will “stay constant” with this 12 months’s kind with a view to decrease disruptions.

On the course of Congress, the division overhauled the shape for the 2024–25 tutorial 12 months with a view to make it easier to make use of. Congress additionally dictated plenty of modifications to the underlying methodology that determines how a lot monetary support a pupil is eligible for, which opened up the Pell Grant to hundreds of extra college students. The modifications took longer than the division initially deliberate, and proved tougher. The division’s information launch mentioned that the company has made “important progress” in addressing and resolving “main identified points” with the 2024–25 utility.

Nonetheless, officers acknowledged the toll of the rocky rollout.

“The expansive scope and timeline of the modifications for twenty-four–25 has been difficult for college kids, households, establishments, states, and organizations that help them,” officers mentioned within the launch.

The division has obtained and processed greater than 11.1 million support functions. The tempo of functions has involved faculties who nervous that the FAFSA points would deter some college students from pursuing postsecondary schooling. In March, the division had obtained 40 p.c fewer functions than normal, although that hole has since closed to eight p.c, based on Friday’s information launch.

To additional shut that hole, the division introduced a $50 million FAFSA Pupil Help Technique to fund efforts to spice up FAFSA completion charges. Thus far, greater than $30 million has been awarded to greater than 180 organizations.

This text has been up to date.