Remember the struggle last academic year as students and their families across the country struggled to figure out the new “simplified” Free Application for Federal Student Aid?

Well, the U.S. Department of Education is at it again, this time announcing a phased rollout for the 2025-26 form. That means it will be available to some students on Oct. 1, but not to everyone until Dec. 1. And that means some families likely will be dealing with delays and other issues as the college decision day nears.

According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, the phased roll-out is an attempt to fix any issues that crop up while the first batch of students is working on the form.

But, it means many other students will be two months behind the normal start of the application window.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona says the federal government has “spent lots of time with these stakeholders to ensure their experience and their input influences our work moving forward,” according to the Capital Journal. Cardona said the change in process is the result of frustration and feedback from students, families, education leaders and policy makers. That frustration likely would have been less had Congress not forced the Department of Education to change the process.

One wonders whether any of those stakeholders suggested “Hey, while we’re at it, let’s put most of the students and their families two months behind schedule.”

Let us hope those students get the cooperation and understanding from states and schools the U.S. Department of Education says they will get. And let us hope, when problems arise, that states step forward with stop-gap funding for students whose FAFSA runs into problems.

Given the mess made of last year’s FAFSA process, it is difficult to avoid at least some anxiety. But surely, if this year’s rollout comes with more glitches than anticipated, federal bureaucrats care enough about students and their families to have a backup plan, right?

Members of Congress who passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in 2020 that has tripped up the Department of Education so badly had better keep their eye on the situation, just in case.