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An attempt to simplify federal financial-aid forms led to a bureaucratic mess. That may shape where students go to college—and whether they enroll at all.
First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic:
A Botched Rollout
Even under the best conditions, applying to college is rarely easy. But this year, the process became an extraordinary source of stress for many American families when the planned rollout of a simplified Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form devolved into a series of delays and website glitches that left students in limbo.
The plan to simplify the FAFSA process has been a few years in the making: In 2020, as part of a massive spending bill, Congress ordered the Department of Education to create a shorter…