When FAFSA Broke, They Called This Guy

When FAFSA Broke, They Called This Guy

From Statecraft by Santi Ruiz

February 26, 2026 · 1h 15m

About this episode

Jeremy Singer discusses the challenges and solutions related to the FAFSA redesign and its impact on college access.

Jeremy Singer is the President of College Board , which he has led for over a decade. In that role, he oversees the SAT, AP, and other core elements of the U.S. college access ecosystem, and he’s previously had leadership roles at Kaplan and McGraw Hill Education . Why is Jeremy on Statecraft today? After the failed redesign of FAFSA in 2023, he spent six months at the Department of Education helping to ensure the 2024 launch was successful. The revised application form meant 1.7 million students were eligible for maximum Pell Grants in the 2025-26 application cycle. We discuss: * Why attempts to simplify FAFSA went so badly wrong * The problems caused by precise drafting in Congress * How Singer got FAFSA back on track * What politicians and GAO don’t understand about developing software The full transcript for this conversation is at www.statecraft.pub. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.statecraft.pub

People in this episode

Host: Santi Ruiz

Guest: Jeremy Singer

Topics covered

  • FAFSA
  • college access
  • education policy
  • government software
  • Pell Grants
  • politics

Keywords

  • FAFSA
  • Pell Grants
  • college access
  • Department of Education
  • education policy
  • Jeremy Singer
  • SAT
  • AP

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: College Board, Department of Education, Kaplan, McGraw Hill Education

Places: U.S.

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