Your Late March FAFSA Update

Updated March 26:

• The Tuesday morning email states that 4.3 million FAFSA applications have been processed.
• Most schools, state agencies, and scholarship organizations have received student files.
• Processing of the remaining applications should be completed by the end of March.
• Students who need to make corrections to their applications will have access in the first half of April.

We are nearing the end of March 2024.

Where do things stand with FAFSA?

For every step forward the Department of Education (ED) takes, it also takes a step backward.

Yes, FAFSA applications are being processed but at a snail’s pace.

Unfortunately, many – as in hundreds of thousands – applications have been processed at the incorrect Student Aid Index (SAI). ED made the announcement on Friday, March 22.

The wrong calculation occurred on or before March 21.

What will happen going forward?

Who knows?

ED stated a correction has been made, but given its track record with this FAFSA, it’s difficult not to expect additional issues.

What does this mean for the timeline?

That depends on which side we’re looking at.

If ED can right the ship, they should send out more applications this week.

At last count, approximately 1.5 million of roughly 5.7 million applications have been processed.

That does not mean the applications were sent to schools and state agencies, as many students received notices from FAFSA that information on their applications needs to be updated or corrected.

The impacted students do not have a definitive date for when they will be able to access the system to make the adjustments.

On the other side of the equation, are the schools and state agencies that according to reports are expected to recalculate the erroneous information on their own.

This additional work will likely slow the pace of compiling and sending financial packages for all students.

With the May 1 deadline looming for countless high school seniors, the situation is becoming more stressful.

Some schools have extended their commitment/deposit dates to May 15 or June 1, but with the slow pace of processing and error riddle information, these dates still pose a challenge for students and their families.

(Note: As of this writing, some schools are waiting to receive their first Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR))

Lack of Clarity

With all that has transpired, everyone is in a holding pattern waiting to see what comes next.

Communications from ED are often vague.

At this late date, everyone needs clarity.

The continually revised timelines, unanswered emails, and miscalculations create a lack of faith in the system.

People can prepare for almost anything, provided they have the correct information.

The ED must put forth facts – not guesses.

Yes, revamping the application and new calculations was a monumental task.

Yes, the staffing and budget had been decimated by the previous administration.

Yes, working under Continuing Resolutions (CR) contributed to the challenges.

Yes, Congress should have agreed to up the staff and budget, but it didn’t.

Countless factors contributed to the present situation, but all parties should have been alerted to what was coming.

It was clear during the summer that the new application and system were not ready for primetime.

It would have been prudent to take the “coach” John Wooden approach, “To fail to prepare, is to prepare to fail.”

Waiting for New Details

We are waiting for new information to be released.

Stay tuned.

Our previous financial aid posts.