A stepfather impacted by the Biden administration’s rollout of a new federal student loan application spoke out against the implementation that has left his family, and many others, in financial limbo for months.
Harry Jackson, whose stepson was accepted to Purdue University, joined “America’s Newsroom” to discuss how the botched Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) implementation has affected his family.
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“It’s agonizing. It’s a lot of stress,” Jackson told Dana Perino on Monday. “Typically, when you have your high school graduation is a period of elation. You’re able to celebrate with your classmates where you’re going to go… and not being able to… and not having to know where you’re going to go, to know what options are available, what… your future holds for you. This is inexcusable.”
“This is agonizing for thousands of students across the country,” he continued.
A bipartisan spending bill passed in December 2020 included legislation aimed at reforming and streamlining the process for submitting FAFSA ahead of the 2024-25 award year.
But instead of streamlining the process, families have been waiting for months to learn about their child’s possible financial reward.
VideoThe delays have ultimately halted the college selection process for many high school seniors nationwide, which has also prompted some higher institutions to delay their own priority admission deadlines.
As of late January, only 700,000 had completed the application, which is down nearly 60% from last year.
“That’s what’s so frustrating. The continued delayed rollout of this… system,” Jackson said. “It’s been delayed month after month after month. It now is due June 1st. Joshua’s been accepted to Purdue, which is one of the top engineering and computer science programs in the country, and we want to make this dream come true, but he doesn’t have an idea of what his financial aid package will be.”
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This comes amid a new report last week that Richard Cordray, the chief operating officer for Federal Student Aid, will step down at the end of June.
In a statement to USA Today, Cordray touted the Biden adminstration’s sweeping student loan forgiveness as the top achievement of his three years at the DOE.
US Vice President Kamala Harris, left, speaks at the Department of Education in Washington, D.C., US, on Thursday, June 2, 2022. The US will forgive $5.8 billion in outstanding debt for students of defunct Corinthian Colleges who the government says were deceived and defrauded, a major loan cancellation that comes as the White House considers a more widespread proposal. Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Getty Images)
“Over my tenure, we provided student loan forgiveness to more than 4 million borrowers and their families, made it easier for people to apply for and manage federal student aid and took strong actions to hold schools accountable for defrauding students,” Cordray said.
Despite the news, Jackson argued that education officials are aware of the urgency in sorting through the process as many families wait for financial aid rewards that should have already been issued.
“It’s literally on the same level as the failure of ObamaCare,” Jackson said. “A lot of families are impacted by this. We have no idea where our children are going to go because it’s dependent on… financial aid.”
FOX Business’ Breck Dumas and Eric Revell contributed to this report.
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Bailee Hill is an associate editor with Fox News Digital. Story ideas can be sent to [email protected]
