U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), along with 23 colleagues, have written a letter to Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, as well as Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee. The senators are urging them to allocate $2.7 billion in funding to the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) for fiscal year 2025.
The senators wrote: “Fully funding the President’s request for FSA this fiscal year – a $625 million increase from the FY 2023 levels – is particularly critical given that FSA’s FY 2023 and FY 2024 funding was stagnant compared to previous years, severely undermining FSA’s ability to implement critical programs.”
FSA is the nation's largest provider of student financial aid, serving over 46 million people and overseeing a $1.6 trillion student loan program. The agency is responsible for significant improvements to student financial aid services, including an overhaul of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). However, implementation of the FAFSA overhaul has been hindered by delays and processing glitches due in part to insufficient funding for FSA.
“Additional resources are necessary to fix the problems… making federal student aid more accessible for more than 17 million students,” stated the senators.
The FSA is also managing the return to repayment for student loan borrowers whose payments were paused during the pandemic. It is working on implementing a series of reforms aimed at rectifying aspects of the student loan system that have failed borrowers.
“FSA’s responsibilities have increased to protect students and borrowers, but its federal funding has remained stagnant. The lack of adequate resources creates more barriers for students to start and continue their education,” concluded the senators. “We believe this funding request is needed to provide FSA with the resources it needs to fulfill its goal of ensuring that all eligible students and families can access federal student grants, loans, and work-study funds to pursue education and training beyond high school.”
The letter was also signed by Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Bob Casey (D-PA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Peter Welch (D-VT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ron Wyden (D-OR), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Maria Cantwell(D-WA).