The launch of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, has been marred by delays and snags. Now, universities from coast to coast are taking drastic measures in an effort to contain the chaos for incoming students.
Dozens of colleges in at least 14 states and Washington, D.C., have announced they are pushing back their admissions deadlines as they wait for the Department of Education to send them the FAFSA information they need to process financial aid offers to prospective students.
In fact, College Decision Day – typically May 1 – is pushed back by weeks in several cases. This day marks the deadline for applicants to commit to a college where they have been accepted. (Deadlines for students apply to for the university for the 2024-2025 school year have not changed.)
But before students commit to a particular college, they need to know how much it will cost them. Because of the delays, experts say students may not receive information about college costs until late March or even April, leaving them precious little time to decide where they will spend the next few years studying.
“We understand the frustration that students and families may be feeling,” said April Grommo, vice provost for enrollment at California State University, in an announcement that changed CSU’s decision deadline from May 1 to May 15 for all 23 universities in its area. system.
New university commitment dates, new forms of financial aid
About 80 other schools across the country have made similar changes to deadlines, including major universities such as the University of Virginia, University of Massachusetts-Boston, University of Illinois-Chicago and Ohio State University, according to a list compiled by Danny Tejada, a college counselor. and founder of college consulting firm We Go To College.
So far, most universities that have extended the deadline have set it to May 15 or June 1, although some have not yet released a new date. Tejada hopes that many other universities will also postpone their deadlines.
Although the new FAFSA is already available (albeit months later than expected), colleges are still waiting to receive financial information on students who have filled out the federal aid form. Last month, the Department of Education said it would not be able to provide this information to universities until at least March. Schools were expecting the information by the end of January. Even when colleges have it, they need a couple of extra weeks to calculate their offers of financial aid to prospective students.
Overall, the delays have affected the typical financial aid and college admissions process. And not just for students, families and economic operators.
These financial aid packages are essential to Tejada’s work as a college counselor. Typically, she works with disadvantaged students and says that, under normal circumstances, she walks them through their financial aid awards so they can compare and contrast what school makes the most financial sense. At this time she is unable to do so. And the day of decision is fast approaching.
At the same time, delays force universities to be cunning.
“Some schools are trying to get ahead of waiting on the FAFSA,” Tejada says.
In addition to pushing back decision dates, some colleges are developing new financial aid forms and processes so they can submit offers without having to wait for the Department of Education. These new forms are not intended to replace the FAFSA, which students should still complete to the best of their ability. Rather, the college essentially compiles some of the information it would have gotten from the FAFSA so it can provide a reasonable estimate of how much aid it can provide.
One example is Saint Louis University (SLU), which is launching a new form for families to receive their financial aid packages by the end of February. The university also suspended all financial aid application deadlines in response to the FAFSA delays.
“Selecting a college is a monumental decision, and the FAFSA delay only adds another layer of stress,” Rob Reddy, SLU vice president for enrollment, said in the announcement.
Why is the FAFSA so delayed this year?
The Department of Education was tasked with implementing a new, simpler FAFSA thanks to the FAFSA Simplification Act, but so far the FAFSA process has been anything but simple.
In fact, the new FAFSA form has been reduced to about 36 questions, compared to more than 100 in previous years. But usually the FAFSA is published in October. For the 2024-2025 academic year, it was not activated until the end of December 2023. This is major delay #1. 1.
In addition to streamlining the application that families see, there have also been a number of changes to the formula behind the scenes, including a directive to update the guidelines used to calculate financial aid eligibility to account for inflation. But the department, already behind schedule, failed to make the inflation adjustment in the rush to get the form online by the legally mandated deadline for the new year.
Last month, the department decided it would correct that mistake Before sending financial aid information to colleges, thus causing another setback of about two months. This is serious delay no. 2: The latest delay that’s pushing financial aid and admissions offices to scramble before College Decision Day.
The Department of Education says, in its defense, that these delays are because it had to make these major changes to the FAFSA while at the same time overseeing the implementation of a new income-driven repayment plan for student loans, facilitating the return to loan payments. after a three-and-a-half-year hiatus and developing new student loan servicer contracts, all without any of the $600 million requested from Congress to advance these initiatives.
“We are certainly working with a very high workload created by Congress and without additional resources,” an Education Department official said on a recent call with reporters.
What can students and families do?
Here are some things prospective students and their families can do while FAFSA delays occur.
- Fill out the FAFSA as soon as possible: If you have not already done so, families should complete the FAFSA as soon as possible. Yes, there are known delays and issues. But some FAFSA-related aid is offered on a first-come, first-served basis. And since the module is new this year, it’s important to test it to see if any technical issues occur.
- Track FAFSA problems and workarounds: With an overhaul of this magnitude, problems are bound to happen. The Department of Education maintains a current list of known FAFSA problems, and many of them include workarounds that are helpful to track. Keep in mind that one of the main problems plaguing the new FAFSA is that parents who do not have Social Security numbers cannot contribute to their children’s application. There is no known workaround yet.
- Don’t give up on aid or college: While you wait in FAFSA limbo, you may want to use this time to try to apply for separate merit-based aid and other scholarships to help you pay for college. Avoid taking out private student loans just because you’re unsure how much federal aid you’ll receive, and experts especially recommend not giving up on your college prospects because of your financial worries. Even though it may be late, you will eventually get the help you are entitled to.
- Stay in touch with your favorite university: Circumstances are changing by the day as colleges are making changes in response to FAFSA delays. It is important to try to stay up to date with announcements and updates from your favorite universities. Check for updated financial aid and admissions deadlines. See if your favorite colleges are creating their own financial aid forms. Go in person, if possible, to the financial aid office on the campus of your top choice to ask any lingering questions you may have. Tejada recommends asking for an extension of the decision deadline if your university isn’t already doing so.
“Talking and talking to the universities that have not extended the deadlines because it is necessary [adequate time] for students to fully consider all their options,” he says. “This is the first major choice most students will make in their lives. We don’t want to confuse it.”
More from Money:
America’s Best Colleges
10 Best College Scholarship Websites
When is the FAFSA due?