Insiders Reflect on the Scramble to Fix the FAFSA

Inside Higher Ed

Liam Knox

January 30, 2025

Last year’s rollout of the revamped federal aid form was a disaster. The Education Department’s efforts to get it on track could reshape the agency that oversees student aid.

After the bungled launch of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid last year, officials at the U.S. Education Department knew they had to do things differently for the next financial aid cycle.

One of the first moves they made was to bring in outside help. The Office of Federal Student Aid, which oversees the FAFSA, hired two senior leaders at the nonprofit College Board to head up the 2024–25 rollout: Longtime College Board president Jeremy Singer took on the role of new “FAFSA czar,” and chief information officer Jeff Olson was hired to help run the technical side. This year’s FAFSA, which launched in late November, has been decidedly better received, and completion rates so far are on par with previous years.

Singer and Olson ended their temporary stints at the department last month to resume their respective roles at College Board. On their way out, they sent a memo to the FSA detailing the challenges they faced and the lessons they learned, in the hopes that “it will be useful … now and in the future as the work continues to strengthen FAFSA.”

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