FAFSA setbacks continue to affect students' college decisions

FAFSA website while the site was down (Photo: Audrey Rauh, The Puma Prensa)

By Audrey Rauh, Features editor

The FAFSA update continues to have setbacks delaying college decision days and affecting students' choices. But is this time cost worth the new application?

Three years ago, congress passed a bipartisan bill that required a FAFSA update to make the form shorter and easier. Usually, the form is released on Oct. 1 but due to the update, it was released on Dec. 31 already three months behind. Upon the form opening, the site immediately had trouble keeping up with so many applicants and crashed multiple times, making it harder or impossible for students and families to fill out the form. “Filling out the form was stressful because, at the time, the site kept crashing,” Senior Moriah Barrett commented. 

However, this initial setback is not the main cause of FAFSA delays. The new form failed to update the guidelines used to calculate aid eligibility. This meant that inflation was not accounted for. Without adjustment for inflation, students could receive less aid for this upcoming school year. The Department of Education has made it a priority to update the guidelines, but this mistake has put them increasingly behind schedule. “It’s just a waiting game at this point,” Senior Myrea Heaps said. 

Because of these delays, colleges are subsequently receiving information from FAFSA later than usual, putting them behind schedule as well. Many colleges have had to push back decision days to allow students to receive federal aid offers and make an informed decision. However, these setbacks are still negatively affecting students. “One of the universities I was admitted to has very limited housing, well I wasn’t able to apply for housing because FAFSA hasn't processed anything yet,” Barrett stated. Colleges that haven’t accounted for FAFSA being behind schedule have put some students in a tough situation. 

The original point of updating FAFSA was to make the process simpler, but have students and families felt this change?  Some students do believe that the process has been easier compared to last year. “My mom said it felt simpler in terms of questions, but obviously, with various setbacks, she was more stressed,” Barrett explained. But other students don’t feel the same. “The form was just confusing and we had to call FAFSA a lot of the time and they were kind of unhelpful,” Heaps commented. 

It can be hard to notice the changes in the FAFSA form when the site keeps crashing and the process as a whole has been stressful for so many. However, the Department of Education has committed to fixing the problem before the 2024-25 school year, so, hopefully next year, the process will be smoother.