With Lame Duck Session Now in Sight, Here Are 3 Things to Watch

NASFAA

Hugh T. Ferguson, NASFAA Staff Reporter

November 3, 2020

Following the presidential election there will still be a little over a month of the legislative calendar for the current administration and Congress to work through before newly elected candidates are sworn into office for their full terms — and during this wrap-up session, Election Day fallout could spur a flurry of activity related to higher education.

FAFSA Simplification

With the impending retirement of Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), there will likely be an effort on his part to complete work on FAFSA simplification — especially since a rewrite of the Higher Education Act this Congress proved elusive.

“It would make much more sense and be much easier if we could pass this bill, removing the 53 additional questions and let both the FUTURE Act and this legislation be implemented at the same time,” Alexander said in a September hearing.

Alexander also touted the issue on an episode of “Off The Cuff.”

NASFAA supported the bipartisan FAFSA Simplification Act bill introduced by Chairman Alexander and Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) last October.

NASFAA also recently commissioned a 10-paper series exploring ways to make the FAFSA — and the overall federal student aid process — more efficient and streamlined for applicants and their families.

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