In a recent announcement, the Department of Education revealed that colleges and universities across the United States will face delays in receiving students' applications for financial aid. This delay stems from the department's decision to rectify an error in the calculation of a student's aid eligibility.

The fix is intended to address the eligibility calculations for students entering college during the 2024-25 academic year. Typically, student data from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is received by schools in late fall or early winter, shortly after students have begun submitting their applications starting in October.

However, a rocky rollout of a new, simplified FAFSA form, mandated by Congress in 2020, led to current students facing difficulties in accessing applications until the first week of 2024. This indicated that delays in receiving financial aid offers from schools for the upcoming academic year were inevitable.

Adding to the challenges, the Department of Education recently confirmed that it had failed to update the tables used for calculating a student's family eligibility based on inflation. This development further exacerbated the situation, leading to the department notifying schools that they should not expect to receive FAFSA applicant information until March, at the earliest.

Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, expressed concern over these last-minute delays, highlighting how they potentially jeopardize the very students and families that federal student aid aims to assist.

The department's statement also acknowledged that students are currently unable to make corrections to their forms and will have to wait until the first half of March to do so. These sudden changes in timelines have left colleges scrambling to issue aid offers as soon as possible, prompting Draeger to emphasize that financially vulnerable students must not bear the burden of these missteps.

The new FAFSA form has brought forth additional challenges for applicants. The department's website highlights issues such as the inability of students with parents lacking Social Security numbers to apply.

Despite these obstacles, the redesigned application has received approximately 3.1 million successful FAFSA submissions since its launch.
U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal expressed optimism regarding the "Better FAFSA," stating that the updates to the calculations would enable more students to qualify for the financial aid they require. He thanked the financial aid advisers, college counselors, and other participants for their assistance in prioritizing students' needs.

As colleges and universities struggle with the delay in financial aid applications, the Department of Education is working diligently to address the issue and ensure smoother processes moving forward.