Courtney Brennan ‘24
OPINIONS EDITOR
On Jan. 31, the Department of Education (DOE) announced that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) was once again being delayed, with universities now receiving the form around mid-March. Most schools are now estimating that they will be giving students financial aid packages in early to mid-April, a mere two weeks before the May national commitment deadline.
Unfortunately, this delay is not the first issue with the FAFSA that has occurred this school year, causing headaches for families and immense amounts of stress for seniors. The DOE has been working on what they call a simplified version of the form that was intended for use during the 2023-2024 school year. However, they said the form was not ready during the typical opening period in October and wouldn’t be available until December 31. When it did finally open at the start of 2024, there were numerous crashes daily, and many people had issues completing the form. Although the form was shortened, it still left families confused as to whether or not their information was going through.
With the announcement of another delay, colleges are now forced to change their timelines, with many schools changing their commitment deadline from the national deadline to May 15 or even June 1. However, not every institution is taking this action, leaving students scrambling to make their decisions.
When the Department of Education realized the FAFSA could not be ready in October, or even before January, they should have reinstated the old form for this school year so that they would have until the coming October to work out the bugs for the 2024-2025 school year. This decision would have allowed students and families to complete the form on their own time and find out their financial aid packages before making their decisions.
Personally, as a senior in the process of making my college decision, the continued FAFSA delays are extremely stressful. Although I know that for some people financial aid does not impact their decision, for many of my schools, they are waiting to release a full package, including any merit money, until April, and financial aid can be the deciding factor for some students including myself. Knowing that I will not receive this information until April and then only having two to three weeks to make my decision is frustrating, especially in the context of having to try to find a roommate and then submit housing applications soon after the May 1 deadline.
Overall, if the Department of Education had used the old form for one more year instead of delaying the financial aid process multiple times, they would have avoided massive amounts of pressure on students, families, and universities.