Millions of high school seniors are getting ready to make a big decision: Where to go to college. Many factors go into that choice, particularly how much financial aid they can get. To unlock that money, they need to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Right now, the process is massively delayed, the result of the Department of Education’s botched rollout of a more simplified FAFSA form last year. It all leaves students and colleges in limbo.
Typically, students apply for financial aid in spring (or fall), the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) receives those forms, sends them to colleges, and colleges are able to quickly send students their offers. But that has not happened recently, according to Politico California Education Reporter Blake Jones.
As the DOE has been trying to process new, simpler forms, they’ve run into technical glitches, which delays sending the info to colleges on time, Jones explains. Plus, students have had trouble filling out the forms online.
Jessie Cruz, a higher education coordinator at Compton High School, has been trying to help students work through FAFSA problems. He says undocumented parents particularly have challenges gathering the necessary paperwork, and the government wants access to more private information, which scares families.
“Parents have to provide identification verification. So a lot of our parents, because they're undocumented, they won't have a California ID. Some have identification from the countries they’re coming from,” Cruz explains. “And a lot of parents feel very hesitant about sharing that.”
He says March 2 was the deadline for students to receive Cal Grant funding, which influenced their decisions to stay in-state and attend public institutions. But now with FAFSA processing delays, universities are pushing back when they’re telling students how much aid they’re getting and how much they must pay out-of-pocket. Thus, many students who applied to a four-year institution are considering if community college is the best option financially.
Jones explains that May 1 was typically the deadline for students to let UC and CSU campuses know where they’ve decided to attend. Now students have until at least May 15, possibly longer depending on the CSU campus.
He says the Department of Education has given a few explanations for all this. The first: This is an immensely complex administrative task that’s taking more time than anticipated. Second: Congress didn’t give enough funding to complete this. Third: There was a change to how student aid is calculated based on cost of living, and that wasn't done quickly enough.
“They are certainly, despite all these explanations, getting a lot of political pressure from members of Congress for the impact that this is having on everyday people,” Jones adds.