The FAFSA rollout gets delayed (again), leaving aid-seeking students in limbo
.jpg)
Not so fast-fa… US students can’t file for federal financial aid until December, marking the second year in a row that the FAFSA form’s been delayed two months beyond its typical October rollout. A small number of students can apply using a beta version of FAFSA as part of the Education Department’s effort to catch any glitches before the form’s launch — and to avoid a repeat of last year.
ICYMI: Last year FAFSA — aka the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — got an overhaul that was supposed to streamline applications. Changes included letting some students skip as many as 26 questions and making up to 7.3M students eligible for Pell Grants.
Botched: The Ed. Dept. struggled to resolve technical issues around the revamped form’s release, which led to errors and delays.
It’s disorientation week… Students are still dealing with the fallout from last year’s fumbled FAFSA rollout. Nearly half of families’ financial-aid offers were delayed, while a mistake in income calculations put $1.8B of aid at risk. As the Ed. Dept. tried to fix the error, colleges didn’t start receiving students’ financial aid info until March. It means students didn’t start getting aid offers until sometime in April, whereas most colleges’ decision deadlines are May 1. Some schools pushed back their deadlines (some indefinitely).
Hold music: Student-loan borrowers also faced a hot mess last fall as payments restarted after a three-year pause (think: incorrect bills, site glitches, long hold times).
Futures need funds… US college enrollment has been dropping for over a decade. And as college tuition and fees continue to spike, not receiving aid on time could lead to even more students skipping higher ed. Glitchy FAFSA forms could accelerate the trend: last year fewer students applied than usual.