There is disaster brewing due to changes in the way college students file their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Delays in transmission of application data due to the rollout of a new application website may potentially affect millions of students, and in some cases, delay or cost them their financial aid. But this story, the most disastrous rollout and implementation of a government website since healthcare dot gov, does not appear to be newsworthy enough for ABC World News Tonight.
It’s not like they’re completely unaware of the story. Here’s how the network covered the initial rollout of the application changes on Saturday, December 30th, 2023:
WHIT JOHNSON: The process for applying for college financial aid could soon become a bit easier. The Education Department is expected to debut its new online FAFSA form, which allows families and students to provide financial information to schools. The revamp is supposed to simplify the process, but it will also include new ways that aid is calculated, meaning a change in how much in some students that they could receive.
Alas, the process was not made easier. And the glitches are ongoing, to this day. Per the Twin Cities’ Fox affiliate:
WASHINGTON - The Department of Education disclosed an error in its evaluation of federal student aid, potentially leading to extended delays for thousands of applicants.
This situation puts numerous students who have sought federal aid for college funding at risk of indefinite postponements, particularly as enrollment deadlines approach.
The Federal Student Aid office, which manages the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), announced on March 24 that its system failed to incorporate all necessary data fields to accurately compute aid based on students' reported assets.
Consequently, applicants must have their submissions reprocessed and presented to educational institutions.
…
The Department of Education stated that the miscalculation has been rectified without specifying the time frame for reprocessing the impacted applications.
However, it acknowledged that the agency had disseminated inaccurate information.
Approximately 200,000 applications were affected out of the over 1.5 million already processed in a year, where at least 6 million FAFSAs have been submitted thus far.
The current issue arises amidst a significantly delayed system as officials rush to address technical malfunctions in the online form, handle application processing, and expedite the distribution of financial aid packages.
You would think that a major foulup such as this, which has already drawn demands for a congressional investigation, would garner significantly more network evening news air time than a minute and 55 seconds on CBS (2/29), two minutes and 14 seconds on NBC (3/1), and zero minutes on ABC, and yet here we are.
As Erick Erickson rightly notes, this SHOULD be a major national news story. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, who has devoted significant portions of his tenure to defending the advancement of the sexualization of children in schools as well as the right of men to compete in women's sports, has escaped the kind of scrutiny that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has drawn over his handling of the border and that Transportation Secretary Peter Buttigieg has drawn over, well…everything else.
And when you stop to consider whether the story of the FAFSA disaster has truly gone underreported, ask yourself: what would the coverage be like had this happened under Betsy DeVos? Once again, the Regime Media go out of their way to avoid reporting a story that makes the Biden administration look bad.
