Students can now apply for federal college aid. Officials hope for a smoother rollout this year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal FAFSA form used to apply for college financial aid opened to high school students nationwide Thursday, a year after the Biden administration’s disastrous rollout delayed the application by months.

After weeks of testing, the Department of Education said there were no major problems with the online form. It will open to the public later than the traditional start date of October 1, but much earlier than the late January launch last year. The department promised to submit this year’s uniform by December 1.

“After months of hard work and much feedback from students, schools and other stakeholders, we can say with confidence that the FAFSA is working and will serve as a gateway to college access and affordability for millions of students,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Thursday. .

Over four rounds of testing, more than 140,000 students submitted the form and their information was sent to more than 5,200 colleges, according to the department.

A major overhaul last year was supposed to simplify the famously complex form, but technical problems prevented students from submitting forms or messed up calculations.

The federal government uses student applications to determine their eligibility for financial aid, and colleges and states use them to award their scholarships. The delays have left students wondering what kind of financial aid they will be able to receive, a deciding factor for many families.

Advocates say the frustration likely led thousands of students to give up on college altogether. According to the National Student Clearinghouse, U.S. colleges saw a 5% decline in freshman enrollment this fall compared with the previous year, and the decline was even steeper at colleges with large numbers of low-income students.

The Education Department said it had fixed problems from last year and hired 700 more call center staff to help families if they had trouble submitting the form.

This week, the Senate and House unanimously passed legislation requiring the Department of Education to make the FAFSA available no later than October 1st.

The Biden administration has drawn bipartisan scorn for its approach to renewal, with Republicans accusing the administration of focusing on student loan cancellation at the expense of the FAFSA form.

The changes came after Congress passed a form simplification bill in 2020. The Education Department was ordered to reduce the number of questions from more than 100 to about 40 and change the formula to extend assistance to more students.

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