In a recent update from the U.S. Department of Education, the Free Application for Student Aid’s (FAFSA) release will be delayed until March.
As reported by The Hill, the problems relating to timing come as a result of a delayed initial release, where families or individuals seeking to file were only able to begin the form in late December compared to previous years’ release of the form in October.
However, despite the new system’s implementation, the Department of Education’s new processes are causing headaches for families of prospective students across the country, including incoming students for this next year at Fordham.
The problem stems from the fact that, until the FAFSA is returned to families and students filing for federal student aid, schools and students will not know how much families or individuals will be allowed in aid for the coming year’s term.
At the Student Life Council on Wednesday, Feb. 14, President Tania Tetlow discussed university frustrations relating to the ongoing process. She said that she’d recently gone to Washington, D.C., to lobby Congress about issues related to work-study programs and those that students and families are facing regarding federal aid as well.
“We are very frustrated,” said Tetlow. “I was just at a meeting of all the leadership of NAICU [National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities], and the secretary of the Department of Education came to apologize, and there is funding, he announced that day, for really small and under-resourced schools to get help processing all that financial aid data come spring.”
Continuing on, Tetlow said, “I doubt that aid would come to Fordham. We’re working, and we are making sure that we have the planning and staff necessary to do it, but this feels like an unenforced error that is causing American families across the country enormous pain. We worry that, in higher education, students who are anxious about whether and how to go to college will give up because of this delay, which will yet be another kick in the shins to opportunities in this country.”
Further, Tetlow stated, “This is a Department of Education issue rather than a congressional issue, but we did make sure that our members of Congress understood the problem. If they haven’t heard from angry parents already, it’s because we need them to hurry up and finish a budget so that we know how much financial aid funding there is, because that is another sort of delay.”
“This is not a moment to assume that everything will just be fine,” Tetlow concluded.
Upon reaching out to Fordham’s Office of Student Financial Services, Associate Vice President Brian Ghanoo stated that as a result of the delay in the FAFSA’s release, Fordham recommends “families begin completing the FAFSA as early as possible to allow for time for any issues or delays with the process.”
Ghanoo added that “current students can expect to receive their financial aid offers in mid-to-late June,” while speaking on Fordham’s efforts for prospective and newly admitted students’ struggles with the FAFSA. “Financial aid offers to newly admitted students are being delivered as scheduled based on their admission plan. The Office of Student Financial Services has created a FAFSA Simplification webpage as a resource for students and their families,” Ghanoo said.
Assuring that any delays will be resolved, Ghanoo stated, “The Department of Education will electronically distribute completed FAFSAs to colleges in the first half of March.”
Students who wish to look into this issue on their own should visit Fordham’s financial aid page for additional information or should get in contact with the financial aid office for further help.
