Fafsa Glitches Delay Financial Aid Applications
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Here's your Money Briefing for Thursday, January 11th. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. The college financial application process kicked off late last month. But even though the FAFSA was simplified, students and families are facing a litany of glitches and delays.
Those students who would have typically known by now where they're going to go to college and would have been able to commit now might have to wait until earlier in the spring to make a definite decision and have all the pieces that they need.
We'll talk to Wall Street Journal personal finance reporter Oyen Ededoyen after the break.
Technical problems with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, are disrupting college decisions for many students. Wall Street Journal personal finance reporter Oyen Adedoyen joins me. So, Oyen, how was the FAFSA redesigned?
How did the new FAFSA redesign change the application and questions asked?
This was a complete overhaul of the FAFSA as we know it for this year. Some of the changes include a shortened form. So it used to be about 100 questions. Now people can answer less than 18. Some of the changes also included a direct connection to the IRS. That way, instead of having to manually input your tax information, they can just pull that data right from the IRS. And another change includes a change to the formula for how FAFSA calculates your federal and institutional aid.
That's a lot of changes. And so why are families having so much trouble with it?
Why are families and students encountering glitches and delays with the FAFSA launch?
Making those changes took a lot longer than the education department realized, and that pushed the start date for the FAFSA from October 1st, which is when it usually launches, to January. And even with that being said, it's been kind of a rocky launch this month. Many families are having trouble accessing the form in general. Others are getting kicked out midway. And others are seeing other technological glitches related to email confirmations and things like that.
Has the education department explained the reason behind these glitches?
They have. So they're calling this a soft launch. And that means that the application has been opened for a limited time in the first week, while the education department periodically takes it down to fix any glitches that they're seeing in real time. But that's been really frustrating for students and parents who are trying to submit this form as soon as possible to see how much aid they can receive from the federal government.
Did people know this was a soft launch with the possibility of these types of glitches?
The language was very confusing. Even financial aid officers told me that they didn't really start seeing the soft launch language until the middle of December. Prior to then, everybody assumed that it was going to be a full, hard launch of the FAFSA in late December when it was intended to come out.
What does the Education Department say about the FAFSA 'soft launch' and outages?
Are colleges aware of the problems families are facing and how are they responding?
Colleges are aware and they're responding in a variety of ways. It's a bit tricky because the Education Department has said that due to these changes, colleges aren't going to get access to the data from the FAFSA until at least the end of January. So their hands are tied in a sense. There's not really a lot they can do to assist families until then. But many colleges are creating their own FAFSA forms to give families a better idea of how much institutional aid they could provide. Others are extending certain deadlines to give families more time.
There are a lot of deadlines involved here. The application process, the college's process of accepting students. How do these glitches and these delays affect the deadline for applying for aid?
How are colleges responding to delayed FAFSA data and assisting applicants?
Families and colleges are extremely worried about certain groups of students, especially those who are high school seniors coming into college for the first time in the fall. So for those students who applied maybe early action or early decision, they're hoping to get an earlier idea of what college they're going to go to. But this process really crunches that time for them.
How about people who've applied to college early and were accepted?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–1:08
2
How did the new FAFSA redesign change the application and questions asked?
1:08–1:44
3
Why are families and students encountering glitches and delays with the FAFSA launch?
1:44–3:06
4
What does the Education Department say about the FAFSA 'soft launch' and outages?
3:06–3:54
5
How are colleges responding to delayed FAFSA data and assisting applicants?
3:54–5:24
6
How will FAFSA glitches affect early decision and early action applicants' timelines?
5:24–6:41
7
Are there alternatives to the FAFSA, like the CSS Profile, and how do they differ?
6:41–7:09
8
Could the FAFSA changes alter how much financial aid families receive this year?
7:09–7:29
Speakers
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