What You Need To Know The House Education and Workforce Committee held a hearing titled, “GAO Uncovers Biden-Harris FAFSA Failures” which addressed the ongoing challenges to implement the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (“FAFSA”). Two U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO") Directors testified at the hearing. The hearing coincided with the GAO's release of its preliminary findings reviewing the rollout of the 2024-2025 FAFSA. The GAO report addressed the following, This GAO testimony (1) describes the delays in delivering on FPS requirements; (2) describes the defects that were identified before and after FPS deployment; (3) assesses the extent to which disciplined systems acquisition practices were used to manage FPS requirements, conduct systems testing, and carry out independent acquisition reviews; and (4) assesses the extent to which Education and FSA IT leadership provided oversight of FPS development. This statement is a companion to GAO’s related statement on the simplified FAFSA rollout (GAO-24-107407). The report indicated that FSA identified and reportedly addressed significant defects prior to–and following the release of–the FAFSA. In total, the report identified 55 defects which were largely a result of oversight failures by the Department. The report included six recommendations to the Department, “including adhering to agency policy in managing requirements and testing, developing policy for independent acquisition reviews, and hiring a permanent departmental CIO. Education provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.” The Committee hearing featured Members from both sides of the aisle expressing concern and outrage from the results of the GAO report. Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) strongly criticized the Department for its lack of accountability in his opening remarks, The Committee, bipartisan lawmakers, and the public have all demanded answers. And yet the Department has been largely unresponsive to requests for information, even going so far as to stonewall a non-partisan Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) investigation into the FAFSA failures. It has taken a subpoena from this body for the Department to finally respond to the GAO’s request. This lack of accountability is unacceptable, as students and taxpayers ultimately pay the price. Why This Is Important The failed FAFSA rollout has impacted many of our member institutions as was shared with the Department in various listening sessions and through the Request for Information (RFI). This report and hearing is important as the Department continues to prepare for the release of its 2025-26 FAFSA in the upcoming months. For more information: GAO Summary GAO Report | 
