H.R. 8932 would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Department of Education to make the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) available on October 1 of the year preceding the start of the applicant’s planned academic year. Under current law, the department must release the FAFSA by January 1, and to the extent practicable, by October 1. Students must complete the FAFSA to be eligible for federal financial aid. 

In most years, the department makes the FAFSA available on October 1, the date that would be required under H.R. 8932, and CBO expects the department to do so in future years. Consequently, CBO expects that enacting H.R. 8932 would not change the number of students receiving federal financial aid and we estimate that enacting the bill would not affect the federal budget.