Erin Houchin Slams Education Secretary Miguel Cardona: ‘You Have Little Respect’ For Congress

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On Tuesday, Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN) questioned Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on financial aid during a House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing.   Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript   Stay Connected Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00 >> Terry Cardona, I appreciate you being here today.

00:02 I did wonder if you might show up given that you seem

00:08 to have little respect for our congressional inquiries

00:11 into the goings on at the Department of Education.

00:13 As you know, I recently sent you a letter

00:15 about the failed 2024-25 FAFSA rollout.

00:19 But much like parents and college students

00:20 across the country, as of today, we've not received a response

00:24 on what you're doing to remedy the problems you created

00:28 for millions of American families.

00:30 So today, with my time, I'd like to ask a few

00:32 of these questions now.

00:34 I'm a parent to a college student

00:36 and a high school senior.

00:37 I'd like to understand what contributed to the delayed

00:41 and ineffective rollout of the 2024-25 FAFSA.

00:47 >> Thank you for that question.

00:48 And I just want to assure you that I take oversight very

00:51 seriously and communicating information

00:53 with you is really important to us.

00:55 Our department has provided over 50,000 pages and responded

00:59 to 35 letters from this committee alone.

01:01 I take it seriously and will continue to take it seriously.

01:04 We've had many delays with FAFSA, frustrating delays

01:08 that we have been able to fix.

01:12 It's working now and I encourage students

01:14 who are listening to sign up.

01:17 If you sign up today--

01:18 >> What would you say contributed to the delays

01:20 and the ineffective rollout?

01:22 What were the contributing factors?

01:24 >> There were some programmatic issues

01:26 that required our engineers to reprogram codes and have--

01:31 >> And how much time were you given from the time the bill

01:34 passed to the time that you were supposed to roll out?

01:39 >> Excuse me?

01:40 >> The FAFSA Simplification Act, how much time were you given

01:44 between the time that that bill passed to the rollout date?

01:47 >> I believe it was passed in the last administration.

01:49 >> So do you know how many years that was?

01:51 >> It's three years.

01:52 >> Three years, okay.

01:53 What is your department doing now to support students

01:56 and parents who've been unable to submit it,

01:58 who've been given incorrect financial aid information

02:02 or who have not received their estimates?

02:03 What are you doing for those students?

02:05 >> Thank you for that question.

02:06 That's something we take very seriously

02:07 and we are working very closely to provide resources

02:10 for families and--

02:11 >> What kinds of resources?

02:12 >> Well, videos on how to figure it out.

02:14 We have $50 million now going into communities to make sure

02:17 that we're knocking on doors for those students and families

02:19 that still have to fill it out.

02:21 We have tutorial videos.

02:23 We have a national strategy in partnership with the Boys

02:25 and Girls Club, YMCA, school districts.

02:28 We're working closely with districts.

02:30 And I have to say, you know, we've also worked on return

02:34 to repayment, USDS servicing contracts.

02:37 And what we're doing now to make sure

02:38 that we improve processing is make sure

02:41 that our FSA department is designed for the work

02:45 that's being expected of it.

02:47 So we're asking for a budget increase.

02:48 >> Given that you had three years

02:49 to get this right the first time, why should we expect

02:54 that this upcoming FAFSA would be ready by October 1st?

03:01 I know in the Senate Appropriations Committee,

03:03 you recently said your expectation was

03:05 that it would be ready.

03:06 Why should we believe that?

03:08 >> Well, look, we're-- I can be happy

03:09 to share what we're doing on a day-to-day basis,

03:12 but we are taking this very seriously.

03:13 We know how important it is to our families and to our schools.

03:16 And, you know, our schools have been extra patient

03:19 and working very closely with us to deal with the updates.

03:22 And I'm happy to say that two-thirds

03:24 or more are already processing.

03:27 We're committed to making it better every year

03:29 and opening doors to higher education.

03:31 I can tell you that 60 to 70 percent of our students

03:33 on average were applying for FAFSA.

03:36 That's not acceptable.

03:38 We need to be closer to the 95 percent range.

03:40 And that's what we're going to work toward,

03:42 and we're going to make sure that it opens doors

03:43 to higher education for more students.

03:45 >> Although the frustration that I experienced in trying

03:47 to do the FAFSA certainly would deter people

03:49 from participating in that this year.

03:51 As you know, the soft launch was--

03:53 that's a generous term, using the word launch.

03:56 It was clear that it was a hasty release

03:58 to barely meet the letter of the law.

03:59 By all measures, in my view, it was a disastrous failure.

04:02 What grade would you give yourself and the DOE

04:05 on the botched FAFSA rollout?

04:07 >> I'm committed to improving it and working with you.

04:10 >> What grade would you give yourself?

04:11 >> I'm not in the classroom now.

04:13 I'm not going to be--

04:14 >> Well, you're the head of the Department of Education, sir.

04:16 What grade would you give yourself?

04:17 >> We are committed to making sure--

04:19 >> Okay, you're not going to answer the grade level.

04:21 I would give you an F. I think millions

04:22 of American families would do the same.

04:24 Question, were you given a congressional directive by law

04:28 to bail out student loans, yes or no?

04:31 >> I was not given a congressional--

04:32 >> Okay, were you given a congressional directive

04:34 by law to simplify FAFSA?

04:36 >> Yes.

04:37 >> So you spent a great deal of department hours, I understand,

04:40 on the student loan bailout,

04:42 but apparently not very many department hours were spent

04:46 on simplifying the FAFSA that you had three years to do.

04:50 Your answers are about as unhelpful

04:51 as the new FAFSA rollout.

04:53 Seeing as how five minutes is not enough

04:55 to have this thorough conversation,

04:56 I sure hope you will consider responding to my letter.

04:58 Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

05:00 I yield back.

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