Education Department Officials Warned of Complex Overhaul Effort in Internal Documents

In 2020, the Education Department officials received warnings about the challenges of overhauling the federal student aid application, according to internal emails and documents obtained by The New York Times.

The documents showed that the department anticipated a demanding timetable, spanning several years, to revamp the application form in time for students' fall 2022 applications. The department's staff prepared and circulated these documents among soon-to-be top officials after the 2020 election but before President Biden took office. This included James Kvaal, the under secretary of education, and Benjamin Miller, a deputy under secretary.

Despite being advised to prepare for a complex and time-consuming effort, the officials failed to deliver a working form three years later. This failure has heightened the scrutiny faced by the department over the handling of the project, which caused chaos during the college application season earlier this year.