Click here or on the image above to watch Senator Capito’s floor speech.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, on National College Decision Day, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), delivered remarks on the Senate floor about the Biden administration’s botched rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) program.

During her remarks, Senator Capito referenced national data showing FAFSA completion rates dropping nearly 40% across a variety of categories, and detailed the negligence and lack of leadership from the Biden administration that has caused this. Senator Capito also highlighted solutions that Republicans have taken to alleviate FAFSA issues and continued efforts they will take on behalf of students across the country. Senator Capito’s floor speech comes after Education Secretary Miguel Cardona testified in front of the Labor-HHS subcommittee where she had the chance to press him on this issue. Click here for highlights.

In addition to consistent communication with the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, Senator Capito has been active with the FAFSA issue on the legislative front. Specifically, she is part of a bicameral group requesting that the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) look into the botched rollout, which officially began in January. She also helped to author a formula fix to the FAFSA Simplification Act, legislation that intends to make financial aid more accessible for students by streamlining the process. The technical correction, which was related to aid calculations, was included in the Continuing Resolution that passed the Senate in early March. The correction reversed actions that the Department of Education announced in late February that could have jeopardize future Pell Grant awards for students.

Senator Capito’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, are included below:

“Mr/Madame President —

“Today, May 1st, is National College Decision Day.

“This is normally an exciting occasion, where students in my home state of West Virginia, and yours, would be finalizing their decisions about which college or university to attend in the Fall.

“But this year, the customary hopefulness has been replaced with anxiety, fear, and apprehension, as confusion and questions take hold regarding the availability of support that has long accompanied one of the most important decisions of our student’s young lives.

“When it comes to 2024 FAFSA applications, the data from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission paints a bleak picture. Compared to this same time last year, nationally:

“Freshman FAFSA completion rates are down 35.3%. For Pell eligible students, FAFSA completion rates are down 32.1%. For non-traditional students age 25 and older, FAFSA completion rates are down 35%. The total number of high school students that completed FAFSA is down 39.6%. And, the total number of high school students who submitted a FAFSA is down 31.6%.

“These percentages ring true in my home state of West Virginia as well. Back home, because of President Biden’s FAFSA fiasco, 3,643 West Virginia students are left hanging in the balance, severely jeopardizing college access and affordability for students in West Virginia, many of whom would be the first in their families to go to college.

“This is just another way that President Biden and his administration are threatening a form of the American dream and destroying the vision to implement a simplified FAFSA process intended by Congress.

“So, how did we get here?

“In December 2020, Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act to simplify and improve the process of applying for federal student aid. First authorized in 1992, FAFSA has provided a critical lifeline for our students.

“In 2020, Congress made this simplification effort a bipartisan priority, championed by my friend, Senator Lamar Alexander, because of the important support it provides.

“But unfortunately, the administration’s implementation of the law has not made things better for students. Instead, it has created an unmitigated disaster, caused by an inexcusable failure of leadership from the White House and Department of Education.

“The deadline to update the FAFSA should have come as no surprise. Congress even gave the administration an extra year to complete it!

“Implementation of this law should have been a top priority for the Biden administration. Instead, the political leadership at the Department of Education chose to spend time, resources, and personnel to advance the administration’s priorities around canceling student debt. This is proof of the administration blatantly putting politics before our students, and that is simply indefensible.

“I have spoken with so many West Virginians the past several months who are angry about the Department of Education’s misplaced priorities. They feel discouraged about their futures because of the bungled FAFSA implementation. This is obviously a huge issue for students and their families. But, it is also a challenge for colleges and universities as well.

“The Department of Education claims that ‘there is nothing more important right now’ than fixing the issues around the FAFSA process. But, those words have yet to be backed by action.

“While there is no guarantee that the administration will get their act together, there are two things that are certain:

“Number one: Our students deserve better.

“Number two: Senate Republicans will remain committed to holding the administration accountable and pushing for a fix to this issue.

“Back in January, I joined a bicameral group of Congressional Republicans requesting that the Government Accountability Office investigate the administration’s botched FAFSA rollout. This investigation is now underway, and it is my hope that it will yield answers on how this failure came to be, and how similar mistakes can be avoided in the future.

“Additionally, I helped author a formula fix to the FAFSA Simplification Act that passed the Senate and became law earlier this year. This fix intends to make financial aid more accessible for students by streamlining the process, and corrected actions taken by the Department of Education in February that would have jeopardized future Pell Grant awards for students.

“Then, just yesterday, I questioned Education Secretary Cardona during our Labor, Health, Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, where I demanded answers and accountability regarding the FAFSA fiasco that his department has overseen.

“To say I was underwhelmed by his responses would be an understatement.

“With the lack of action from the Biden administration, West Virginia’s Governor Jim Justice declared a State of Emergency on the matter yesterday. This order will “temporarily suspended the requirement for students to complete the FAFSA in order to qualify for the state’s largest financial aid programs, providing needed relief and certainly for our students that they are not receiving from the U.S. Department of Education.

“I hope that in the future, the Biden administration and their Department of Education will be singularly focused on addressing outstanding issues, and ensure that these problems are not repeated in the 2025-2026 FAFSA cycle.

“I can assure you that my Senate Republican colleagues and I will not stop putting the pressure on the Biden administration to do the job they were tasked, as they have received ample resources to do so as provided by Congress.

“I remain in consistent contact with our West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission to further understand what they are seeing and ways that we can help as they work to mitigate the fallout from the crisis the Biden administration has manufactured.

“I commend the efforts from my Republican colleagues in the Senate on this issue as well, like Senators Joni Ernst of Iowa and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who have been outspoken on this issue with me, as well as many other of my colleagues, like the ones who are joining me here on the floor to speak on this issue.

“Together, we must remain focused on the issues surrounding the FAFSA application process and work to make certain that vital resources remain available for our students during the moments they need them most.

“Delivering on what our students deserve should not be a partisan issue. I encourage my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and in the Biden administration to recognize that.

“With that, I yield the floor.”

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