Allred, Barragán, García, Huffman Call for Permanent Solution for FAFSA Form Technical Error
Washington, D.C.– U.S. Representative and Future Forum Co-Chair of Communications Colin Allred (TX-32) shared the news that the Department of Education (ED) is rolling out new guidelines to provide a temporary process for students to meet critical deadlines for non-federal financial aid while the ED addresses the issue preventing contributors without a Social Security number (SSN) from starting or accessing the 2024–25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form.
This announcement came after Representative Colin Allred (TX-32), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Jesús “Chuy'' García (IL-04), and Nanette Barragán (CA-44) led 88 of their colleagues in a Future Forum endorsed letter to ED urging immediate action to resolve the technical issues with the FSA ID system mixed-status families as they try to submit the new FAFSA form. Additionally, they asked the Department to provide a timeline for resolving this issue; to work with schools and state governments to mitigate the problems; and to conduct outreach to proactively inform students, counselors, and other stakeholders about when families with undocumented parents can expect a solution and how to submit their forms once it's resolved.
With the announcement, students whose required contributors do not have an SSN and who face a critical deadline for state, institutional or other scholarship aid can follow a set of instructions to submit an incomplete FAFSA application. The Department of Education’s new guidance indicates it will resolve the technical error in the first half of March, at which point affected students must submit a completed application.
Members signing the letter: Pete Aguilar (CA-33), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Brendan Boyle (PA-02), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Yadira Caraveo (CO-08), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Tony Cárdenas (CA-29), André Carson (IN-07), Greg Casar (TX-35), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Judy Chu (CA-28), Lou Correa (CA-46), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Lloyd Doggett (TX-35), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Valerie Foushee (NC-04), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), John Garamendi (CA-08), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-07), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Robin Kelly (IL-02), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Andy Kim (NJ-03), Barbara Lee (CA-12), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Kathy Manning (NC-06), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Grace Meng (NY-06), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Grace Napolitano (CA-31), Joe Neguse (CA-02), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Frank Pallone (NJ-06), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Donald Payne Jr. (NJ-10), Scott Peters (CA-50), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Katie Porter (CA-47), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Raul Ruiz (CA-25), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Linda Sánchez (CA-38), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Adam Schiff (CA-30), Adam Smith (WA-09), Darren Soto (FL-09), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Greg Stanton (AZ-04), Haley Stevens (MI-11), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Mark Takano (CA-35), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Norma Torres (CA-35), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Lori Trahan (MA-03), David Trone (MD-06), Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Gabe Vasquez (NM-02), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Frederica Wilson (FL-24)
Organizations endorsing the letter: American School Superintendents Association (AASA), California Community Colleges, City Colleges of Chicago, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, College of DuPage, HANA Center, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), Illinois Head Start, Immigration Hub, ImmSchools, Instituto del Progreso Latino, Latin American Recruitment and Educational Services (LARES) at University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), Moraine Valley Community College, Morton College, National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), National Education Association (NEA), National Federation of Teachers (NFT), National Immigrant Law Center (NILC), Northeastern Illinois University, The Education Trust, Western Illinois Dreamers
Read the full letter here.
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About Future Forum Congressional Caucus: Established in 2015, Future Forum is a generational caucus comprised of 53 members from a diverse cross-section of the Democratic Caucus who are 50 years and younger. Future Forum represents the next generation of leaders in Congress and includes members of all ideological and identity caucuses in the House, members of the Democratic leadership, and the first Gen Z Member of Congress.
To learn more about Future Forum: https://futureforumcaucus-allred.house.gov/