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ERIC Number: ED660039
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Sep-24
Pages: 30
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Department of Education: Preliminary Results Show Strong Leadership Needed to Address Serious Student Aid System Weaknesses. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development, Committee on Education and the Workforce, House of Representatives. GAO-24-107783
Marisol Cruz Cain; Kaelin Kuhn, Contributor; Nicole Jarvis, Contributor; David Matcham, Contributor; Jillian Clouse, Contributor; Rebecca Eyler, Contributor; Ashley Mattson, Contributor; Brandon Mitchell, Contributor; Walter Vance, Contributor
US Government Accountability Office
For decades, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms were processed electronically by the legacy Central Processing System. In 2021 the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) initiated a system development effort and in December 2023 deployed a new system to process forms for the 2024-2025 school year. However, student aid applicants reported that the new system had availability issues, recurring errors, and long wait times. This Government Accountability Office (GAO) testimony (1) describes the delays in delivering on the FAFSA Processing System (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). In addressing the first two objectives, GAO summarized the preliminary results of its continuing ongoing work describing delays and defects. For the latter two objectives on requirements, testing, and independent reviews, GAO completed its audit work and is making recommendations to address weaknesses.
US Government Accountability Office. 441 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20548. Tel: 202-512-6000; Web site: http://www.gao.gov
Related Records: ED660055
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Legal/Legislative/Regulatory Materials; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: US Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A