Your Government at Work: FAFSA Financial Aid Version

Remember the political uproar after a ticket-buying surge from Taylor Swift fans caused Ticketmaster’s website to crash? By contrast, consider the muted reaction to the Education Department’s rocky rollout this weekend of the revised Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Even by government standards, the new FAFSA launch has been a fiasco. According to the Education Department, the application had been available for all of three hours between Dec. 30 and Jan. 1. If you happened to log on at the right time, congratulations. Otherwise, try again later.