How FAFSA problems are affecting CSF Scholars
It’s that time of year when College Success Foundation Scholars are starting to receive their acceptance letters from their chosen colleges. It should also be around the time when they acquire their financial aid award letters–giving them crucial information to make sound financial decisions about their future. But this year it’s been quite different due to problems with the new FAFSA form.
This year’s rollout of the simplification of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) has been anything but simple for some students and families–particularly for those who have mixed-citizen status, parents who are recently divorced, or those who live in rural areas where support to complete the new FAFSA is hard to come by.
About a decade ago, Congress, in a bipartisan effort, started negotiations to simplify FAFSA. The goal: to make the cumbersome form less daunting for students and families to fill out–ultimately encouraging more people to unlock access to financial aid for college. The new FAFSA launched in late December after a three-month delay and with some significant glitches. What started as a noble cause to simplify FAFSA has caused confusion and chaos for students and families who rely on financial aid to attend college and for those who work in the financial aid sector, due to underfunding of its implementation.
While Washington state is ranked 1st in need-based financial aid support, our state’s FAFSA completion rates have been historically low and citizens could benefit from an easier form for students and families to fill out. “We’re 49th in the country for FAFSA completion,” states CSF Director of Scholarships & Financial Aid, Maria Rebecchi. “But right now, we are at less than 50% FAFSA completion of where we were the same time last year.”
What’s different about the new FAFSA
With fewer questions–going from more than 100 to less than half that–the new FAFSA form also incorporates skip logic and a greater ability to exchange sensitive information from other government agencies, like the IRS and the Social Security Administration. In addition, the new FAFSA has removed the sibling discount, which gave families a break for having more than one child in college at once.
“For a family that has a two-parent household with two incomes and two social security numbers, the new FAFSA changes make it so they can complete the form in 10 or 15 minutes,” describes Maria.
However, the students that CSF serves have been adversely impacted by the inability to start the FAFSA and/or finalize the FAFSA. “Too many families can’t complete the form because of glitches that have been occurring, including the inability to make corrections to the form once it has been submitted,” explains Maria. “FAFSA data won’t be delivered to colleges until March, which means that financial aid offers won’t be sent to students until April or May if we’re lucky.”
Encountering roadblocks and workarounds
The FAFSA missteps and delays have been felt disproportionately in underrepresented communities. From various error messages while filling out the form online to resorting to filling out a paper form, students and their parents have been frustrated with the new FAFSA’s hiccups.
“Many of the issues have workarounds, but even after implementing the workaround, the students’ forms aren’t always complete. When the forms open back up again at the end of March, students will have to go back into the form to truly complete it, clarifies Maria.”
To keep up with the rapid pace of updates and workarounds, CSF staff are meeting regularly to trade knowledge with other financial aid practitioners and share the scenarios they’ve encountered to help students and families with the glitches they are facing.
Making informed financial decisions
Paying for college is most likely the largest and most complex purchase of a young person’s life. Knowing the true cost of college–including all living expenses, not just tuition–is crucial when comparing financial aid award letters from different colleges.
“We of course want students to do everything they can to complete their FAFSA, but we also need to make sure that they don’t succumb to pressures that schools could be putting on them to make a decision and pay deposits,” maintains Maria. “Students need to be asking colleges, ‘Are you adjusting your deposit deadline? Could you wait for the enrollment deposit until financial aid can help cover it? Can I wait to sign a housing contract? What is your refund policy?’”
CSF advisors are strong advocates in helping CSF Scholars find the best college fit and match with several criteria to take into consideration. Paramount among these factors is the true cost of attending the college of their choice. But, when something as central to the decision-making process, like understanding the bottom line, is left out of the equation students may miss other deadlines. The delay in financial award letters may also limit housing options–sending students to waitlists or even more expensive housing options.
What are students’ next steps?
Recently, each of Washington’s public four-year institutions extended their College Decision Day from May 1 to June 1, 2024. This extension will help provide students and families with some additional time to navigate the FAFSA/WASFA process and make better-informed decisions regarding their higher education pathways. Beyond, extending the college decision deadlines, more schools could also extend their financial aid and housing decision deadlines and offer refunds to students.
In the near term, Maria believes colleges could see much lower enrollment rates due to “summer melt” or that too many students could commit to a school without knowing the true costs. “I am really worried about the students who commit without a financial aid package and then they start and then they realize in the first term they don’t have enough money to get through the year,” reveals Maria.
Our message to CSF Scholars:
Stay the course and remain persistent–don’t let the form’s snafus deter you from completing the FAFSA. Keep at it! CSF advisors are here to support you and your family complete the FAFSA. Students, please reach out with any questions you have about FAFSA or financial aid.
The latest, as of March 26, 2024:
Nationwide, colleges are slowly starting to receive students’ FAFSA eligibility information (Institutional Student Information Records, or ISIRs). Schools need this information to put together financial aid packages to send to students. Remain patient, as this year’s award letters will be delayed. Students who have submitted a FAFSA will see their application move from “Form Submitted” to “FAFSA Form Processed” over the next few weeks during this process.
For students who need to update their FAFSA forms, the forms are now expected to open back up again during the first half of April.
Stay up-to-date with the current FAFSA challenges and updates.