The U.S. Department of Education said FAFSA delays may affect the timing of financial aid offers. Here’s what students and families need to know.
If you are planning to attend college next year, you may have to wait longer than usual to receive your financial aid offer. The U.S. Department of Education announced that colleges will not start receiving processed FAFSAs (Free Applications for Federal Student Aid) until mid-March, due to technical issues with the new 2024-25 form.
This means that the earliest you could get your financial aid package is the first week of April, leaving you less time to compare offers and make a decision before the typical May 1 deadline. Some colleges may extend their deadlines, but others may not be able to do so.
“It’s a real mess,” says Mark Kantrowitz, a financial aid expert and publisher of Savingforcollege.com. “It’s going to cause a lot of confusion and anxiety for students and families.”
What caused the delay?
The FAFSA is the form that students and families fill out to apply for federal and state financial aid, as well as some institutional and private scholarships and grants. The FAFSA for the 2024-25 academic year underwent its biggest overhaul since the 1980s, as part of the FUTURE Act passed by Congress in 2019.
The new FAFSA has fewer questions, simplified language, and a mobile-friendly design. It also allows students to directly import their tax information from the IRS, which is supposed to reduce errors and verification requests.
However, the implementation of the new FAFSA has been plagued by technical glitches and delays. The FAFSA usually launches on Oct. 1 for the following academic year, but this year it was postponed until Dec. 30. Even then, the form was only available for a few hours per day, and some students were unable to complete it due to various errors.
In late January, the Education Department acknowledged a major math error that would have left $1.8 billion worth of aid on the table, affecting about 1.5 million students. The error involved the income protection allowance, which is the amount of income that is excluded from the calculation of the expected family contribution (EFC), the number that determines how much aid a student is eligible for.
The Education Department said it is working to fix the error and reprocess the FAFSAs that were submitted before Jan. 28, when the correction was made. However, this will take until mid-March, and colleges will not receive the updated FAFSAs until then.
How will this affect you?
The FAFSA delay will have different impacts depending on your situation. Here are some possible scenarios and what you can do about them:
- You have not submitted your FAFSA yet. You should submit it as soon as possible, even if you think you will not qualify for aid or you are not sure where you want to go to college. Some aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, and some colleges require the FAFSA for merit-based scholarships or other programs. You can use the FAFSA4caster tool to get an estimate of your aid eligibility and cost of attendance.
- You have submitted your FAFSA, but you have not received your Student Aid Report (SAR). The SAR is a summary of the information you provided on the FAFSA, and it includes your EFC and your eligibility for federal grants. You should receive your SAR within three days of submitting your FAFSA online, or within two weeks of mailing a paper FAFSA. If you have not received your SAR, you can check the status of your FAFSA on the StudentAid.gov website or by calling 1-800-4-FED-AID. If there are any errors or missing information on your SAR, you should correct them as soon as possible.
- You have received your SAR, but you have not received your financial aid offer from your college. You should contact the financial aid office of the college you applied to and ask when you can expect to receive your offer. Some colleges may send you a preliminary or estimated offer based on the information they have, while others may wait until they receive the updated FAFSA data from the Education Department. You should also check your college portal or email regularly for any updates or requests for additional documents.
- You have received your financial aid offer, but you are not satisfied with it or you have questions about it. You should review your offer carefully and compare it with other offers you may have received from other colleges. You should also consider the net price of each college, which is the cost of attendance minus the grants and scholarships you receive. You can use the College Scorecard tool to compare the net price and other factors of different colleges. If you have any questions or concerns about your offer, you should contact the financial aid office of the college and ask for clarification or an appeal. You may be able to negotiate a better offer if you have special circumstances or a competing offer from another college.
What can you do to prepare for college?
While you are waiting for your financial aid offer, you can take some steps to prepare for college and reduce your stress. Here are some tips:
- Apply for scholarships. There are many scholarships available from various sources, such as foundations, corporations, community organizations, and religious groups. You can search for scholarships online using databases like Fastweb, Scholarships.com, or BigFuture. You can also ask your high school counselor, teachers, or mentors for recommendations. You should apply for as many scholarships as you can, and pay attention to the deadlines and requirements.
- Save money. Even if you receive financial aid, you may still have some expenses to cover, such as books, supplies, transportation, or personal items. You can save money by working part-time, cutting unnecessary expenses, or setting up a budget. You can also look for ways to reduce your college costs, such as taking dual enrollment or Advanced Placement courses, attending a community college for the first two years, or living at home or with relatives.
- Learn about student loans. If you need to borrow money to pay for college, you should learn about the different types of student loans, their interest rates, repayment options, and benefits. Federal student loans are usually the best option, as they have lower interest rates, more flexible repayment plans, and forgiveness programs. Private student loans are offered by banks, credit unions, or other lenders, and they have higher interest rates, stricter repayment terms, and fewer protections. You should only borrow what you need, and compare the offers from different lenders before you sign any loan agreement.
- Stay in touch with your college. You should communicate with your college regularly and follow their instructions and deadlines. You should also check your email and college portal for any updates or announcements. You should also participate in any orientation or pre-enrollment activities that your college offers, such as webinars, virtual tours, or online chats. These can help you get familiar with the campus, the academic programs, the student services, and the social opportunities.
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