On September 30, 2025 the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) rolled out the 2026-27 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to all students. The release came about a week before the congressionally mandated deadline of October 1st and followed two consecutive years of delays.

The USDE claims that the new form comes with several updates, including a redesigned process for inviting parents or other contributors to add information to the application and faster account verification for students and parents. 

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According to a new report from the Children’s Equity Project at Arizona State University, proposed funding cuts, mass layoffs, and rescinded guidance will impede educational access for some of our neediest students. The report raises concerns about proposed cuts to formula grants for Title III funding aimed at language skills for new immigrants and English learners (ELs), changes to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding for those with disabilities, and rescinded guidance on how to enforce civil rights laws that protect ELs. In fact, the federal government’s funding and role in tracking and enforcing civil right laws for ELs is key to providing equal access to education. Nonetheless, the federal government has rescinded the decade-old guidance meant to protect students on the basis of national origin and the federal government’s funding.

The report, titled “Protecting Federal Funding to Support English Learners,” notes that English learners make up 11% of total school enrollment in the U.S., and it that federal “investments have never been sufficient, but are a critical resource in nearly every (school) district in the United States.” Of grave concern is that, although the U.S. Senate’s current budget proposal would keep Title III funding at current levels, both the Trump administration and the U.S. House have proposed eliminating it, “conflicting with years of research on what schools need to improve opportunities and outcomes for these — and for all — students. The report shows the breadth of what’s at stake if these programs are reduced or eliminated.”

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In March 2025, a Trump administration executive order directed that the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) be closed to the “maximum extent appropriate.” So, as the transfer of day-to-day management of career and technical education (CTE) programming from the USDE to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) continues, CTE and education administrative organizations are expressing concerns that since the DOL’s focus is on workforce needs, the educational part of job awareness and career exploration will be lost. A separate but similar debate is occurring in special education since the Trump administration has signaled moving the oversight of special education from the USDE to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), although no formal plan has been made public.

In both cases advocacy groups are expressing concern that expertise from the original agencies could be lost and multi-agency collaborations will add additional layers of bureaucracy. In addition, CTE groups have pointed out that the USDE-HOL CTE and workforce development interagency agreement was created without any engagement with those in the CTE field.

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