FAFSA Simplification Act and Student Loan Forgiveness Initiatives Accounting. Inspection Report. ED-OIG/I24DC0194

Abstract

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Simplification Act made several changes to the FAFSA, including changing the formula for determining student financial assistance need and simplifying the application. The rollout of the redesigned 2024-2025 FAFSA application encountered issues that affected students' ability to apply for aid. The Department of Education (Department) has also introduced several student loan forgiveness initiatives, including an initial debt relief plan, the Student Debt Relief loan discharge program, and the Saving on a Valuable Education Plan. As a result of Congressional concerns related to resources spent on these initiatives, the authors initiated a review to determine whether the Department's Federal Student Aid (FSA) office could account for resources expended under these initiatives. The objectives of this inspection were to determine if (1) for the FAFSA Simplification Act and student loan forgiveness initiatives, FSA has prepared accountings of appropriated funds, obligations, administrative expenses, and staffing for fiscal years (FY) 2021-2024; and (2) FSA provided Congress with detailed spend plans of anticipated uses of funds made available under the FYs 2021-2024 appropriations laws.