'The Department Has To Get This Right': Tammy Baldwin Questions Miguel Cardona About FAFSA

4 months ago

At today's Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) grilled Education Sec. Miguel Cardona about problems with FAFSA.

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Transcript

00:00We're going to now begin rounds of five-minute questioning, and I will start that out.

00:10Secretary Cardona, like many of my colleagues, I am troubled by the ongoing FAFSA implementation

00:17issues and I'm also deeply concerned that the number of our high school seniors who

00:23have fully completed their FAFSA is down nearly 30 percent from last year.

00:29And even lower among students in low-income schools.

00:33I know that your staff is working hard to fix this, but as I said earlier, the department

00:39has to get this right and fast.

00:43Can you briefly describe what you and your staff are doing right now to get FAFSA back

00:48on track, including increasing completion rates this year so students don't lose access

00:55to financial aid?

00:56Yes.

00:57Thank you, Senator.

00:58I can assure you that this issue is something that I take very seriously, very personally,

01:03and I acknowledge the frustration and challenges that families and schools are facing.

01:07Thirty years ago, when I was ready to make decisions about higher education, I never

01:12filled out the FAFSA.

01:13I was probably eligible, but it was such a big task that I was intimidated by it and

01:18I didn't want to put that pressure on my family to go through that process.

01:21It felt too difficult.

01:24And for far too long in this country, too many students that have potential have missed

01:28out on federal aid dollars to chase their dreams.

01:31So I recognize the frustration and the challenge, but the problem that hasn't been touched in

01:3740 years.

01:39The rollout of the Better FAFSA has been riddled with delays and challenges, and it's been

01:44something that we've prioritized at the Department of Education.

01:47We're doing everything, every day, to make it right.

01:51We are holding FAFSA clinics.

01:53We are providing daily communication to colleges.

01:56We have sent information out over a month ago to schools, and we are on daily calls

02:00with college presidents, financial aid directors, hundreds of webinars in different languages.

02:06We are visiting states and helping with clinics for families.

02:10We have, if you visit ed.gov, and there's a spot right there where you can see resources

02:15for Better FAFSA.

02:17Just yesterday, I was on the call with national community-based organizations who've signed

02:22up to hold clinics to make sure that they're connecting the dots with schools, and we're

02:27providing day-to-day support to educators, parents, students, based on what we're hearing.

02:32We recognize the importance of this, and we're doing everything in our power to make sure

02:36we're providing more opportunities for students to fill out the Better FAFSA.

02:40At the end of the day, we're expecting the Better FAFSA can open the doors to an additional

02:45600,000 students for higher education, and that's a huge difference for the potential

02:49of our country and the potential of our students.

02:52Thank you for that answer.

02:54While we are still working on FAFSA this cycle, we know that next year is right around the

03:01corner, and students cannot bear another year of delays.

03:06So can you commit to an on-time launch for the 25-26 FAFSA by October 1st of this year,

03:15and will you commit that colleges will get all the data that they need from the FAFSA

03:21as soon as the FAFSA is launched?

03:24Thank you.

03:25Yes, this is something that we've been focusing on while we're rolling out this year's FAFSA,

03:28thinking about next year's FAFSA.

03:29I commit to make sure that we're moving all of our resources to make sure that we adhere

03:36to the timelines and do everything in our power to make sure not only that we're staying

03:40true to the timelines, but also communicating with parents, students, and schools.

03:44Okay, so will you be able to reach the October 1st deadline?

03:51That is our expectation, to reach the October 1st deadline.

03:54Okay.

03:55Mr. Secretary, I appreciate the work of the Department and Administration on increasing

04:02access to mental health services for children and youth and related proposals in the President's

04:08budget.

04:10While you've made some progress, while we've made some progress, certainly more needs to

04:15be done to overcome challenges that I hear about in Wisconsin, frankly, every day.

04:23What I hear about is getting kids the support they need, and I'm also aware of the interest

04:30back home in the Department's school-based mental health programs funded out of the School

04:36Safety National Activities Program.

04:39We provided $216 million for that program in the budget that we just passed, and directed

04:45the Department to use any funds not needed for current activities for new school-based

04:51mental health grants.

04:53Do I have your commitment to use every available dollar from the School Safety National Activities

04:57Program for new mental health grants, just as we directed in the recently passed budget?

05:03Yes, we are committed to adhering to that.

05:06Thank you.

05:07And can you describe how this budget request would expand and improve school-based mental

05:13health services for kids?

05:14Absolutely.

05:15I have to tell you that, you know, one of the things that I feel pretty strongly about

05:19as an educator who has had experience, even before the pandemic, addressing mental health

05:25needs in our schools, that if the disruption of the pandemic results in us going back to

05:30the systems that we had for providing mental health for our students, we're failing our

05:34students.

05:35We are in a youth mental health crisis.

05:37And unfortunately, across the country, we have emergency room models of mental health

05:42support, meaning after the trauma.

05:44We are committed to ensuring that funding and support for schools are available to make

05:50sure that students have the proactive support that they need.

05:53I have to say, thanks to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, we've invested already $571

06:00million in mental health services for students in K-12.

06:05We are committed to continuing to provide support, funding for, in our budget proposal

06:10that is geared toward community, full-service community schools, we'll also bring in community

06:16providers to help students and families with mental health needs.

06:20There's a $40 million grant to K-12 mental health services.

06:24What we're seeing is that some of it is proactive, just helping students understand how they're

06:27feeling and communicate emotions.

06:30And we're also seeing an increase in support providers.

06:33There's been a 40% increase in school social workers.

06:36That's significant, given where we are as a country.

06:39We've seen an increase of 25% of school nurses, which is again, something that I know for

06:45the families and students that benefit from that, they're thankful.

06:47So we're committed to keeping that trajectory moving, recognizing that a strong system of

06:52mental health support for students is the foundation for academic progress and students

06:57reaching their potential.

06:58Thank you.

06:59Senator Capito.

07:01Thank you.

07:02Thank you.

07:03Thank you.

'The Department Has To Get This Right': Tammy Baldwin Questions Miguel Cardona About FAFSA

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