The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is usually a relatively simple and easy part of the college application process. However, this year the application had students across the country waiting for their delayed financial aid letters. These issues have pushed back the college decision day which typically occurs on May 1.
The delays stem from problems with a new version of the FAFSA form which was released by the Department of Education last year. Although the new version was initially designed to make the process easier, many issues arose early on with the new versions.
More common problems with the forms include signatures disappearing, not being able to continue filling out the form, not being able to submit the form when finished and not allowing students from foreign countries to submit a mailing address from their home countries. These issues caused students to not know when or if they would receive the money they applied for.
Counselor Megan Mixon explained that of the numerous changes made to the form was the type of financial contributors that students could add to the form.
“In the past, [the FAFSA form] was all based on tax, but now we look at guardians,” Mixon said. “[In the old form], they’re based on the nuclear family with mom and dad. It wasn’t easy to do when parents are divorced so the [new] form was supposed to simplify that so you could put contributors, as opposed to [just] mom and dad.”
For senior Saad Fraitekh, his FAFSA form was not processed until mid-April. Fraitekh had submitted his form earlier in the year, but with all of the problems with the form it took him a long time to get processed.
“[The form] was not cooperating when I filled it out,” Fraitekh said. “I had to wait three weeks just to even confirm that it got sent.”
However, Fraitekh was able to work around his struggles by contacting the FAFSA support team.
“I just contacted FAFSA, and they just let me know that everything was alright,” Fraitekh said. “They said it was just the change in the system which was why everything was delayed.”
For senior Colson Knight, the issues were more user error than faults with the form. These issues he experienced along with the slow processing times have caused his form to still be unprocessed through decision day.
“I had to fill it out twice because I thought I submitted it before winter break,” Knight said. “But I got an email in March saying that I hadn’t submitted, so it was a big inconvenience.”
If issues occur when filling out the form, there are several resources to fix problems. Students can talk to their counselor in person or through email, the college’s financial aid department’s advice and the FAFSA website offers workarounds and support.
