WASHINGTON — After a long summer of technical glitches, most American prospective students have finally filed for federal financial aid — an annual process that has been upended by a redesign-gone-bad.
The number of high school seniors who have completed their Free Application for Federal Student Aid is down 9 percent from this time last year, according to the National College Attainment Network. That number was up from 40 percent in the spring, when students were typically required to turn in their forms to give schools enough time to put together an aid package.
How much impact will the FAFSA problems have on the number of students going to university remains to be seen, counselors and advisers say. But the delays have certainly changed where students enroll, with many students forced to choose a college with limited information about their financial situation.
As one of the few black girls in her suburban Chicago high school, Adjovi Golo looked forward to college, where it wouldn’t be so hard to be seen and heard. She hoped to attend Spelman College, a historically black women’s college in Atlanta.
The federal financial aid calculators told her she would likely qualify for $15,000 in loans, grants and work-study, but her FAFSA hadn’t been processed by the May 1 deadline to commit to a college. She called the FAFSA hotline 11 times to clear up a glitch, and each time got a different suggestion.
DePaul University in Chicago, meanwhile, offered her the most scholarships. Without a full financial aid package from either school, as her FAFSA remained in limbo, she opted to enroll at DePaul rather than risk going into more debt.
In August, Golo moved into the DePaul dorms. She loves her roommate, the campus, and her professors.
But she wonders what could have been different.
“I felt like I was backed into a corner,” she said. “A part of me, like 75 percent of me, doesn’t regret it. I love it here. But another part of me wishes I had waited.”
The decline in FAFSA completion rates has been particularly sharp for students who already face barriers to college enrollment, including low-income students and students of color. Advocates are concerned about the delays — on top of a Supreme Court ruling that positive action rejected in higher education — will impact where and or many go to university.
Katharine Meyer, a researcher at the Brookings Institution think tank, said: “Theoretically, we’re going to see a less racially diverse group of students, and a less socioeconomically diverse group of students.”
Areas with high percentages of people living in poverty and places with higher shares of Black and Latino residents saw a 20% larger decline in FAFSA completions compared to higher-income areas, according to the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank. analysis Students in those areas were also found to be twice as likely to submit an incomplete FAFSA.
“It’s too early to know how severe the decline in college and university enrollment will be, but it’s not too early to recognize the risks,” said Peter Granville, a fellow at the Century Foundation.
For students who cannot pay their full tuition and fees out of pocket, nearly all forms of financial aid (institutional, state, and federal, including eligibility for federal loans) require completion of the FAFSA.
A 2020 law directed the Department of Education to simplify the FAFSA form, which had been criticized as cumbersome and difficult, especially for families without college experience. But the launch of the simplified form In 2023, one error after another occurred: the launch took place months late in December, and students faced disruptions and hours-long waits for help via the helpline.
Emmily Almaraz, a junior at Texas Christian University, said she filled out the form in less than 20 minutes this year. But the students she helped as an intern at a college access organization weren’t all so lucky.
Despite spending hours on the phone, one student couldn’t get through the verification process for parents who don’t have Social Security numbers, which is the case for some immigrants. Ultimately, the student decided to defer enrollment until the spring, Almaraz said.
“It’s just very discouraging for certain kids who find out that just because they’re missing one piece of information, it can set them back,” Almaraz said. “It can lead to them having to pay for an education that they can’t fully afford.”
Student housing became an additional hurdle for students whose families weren’t willing to put down a down payment without learning more about financial aid, said Jesse Hendrix, executive director of College Possible Texas. Many were stuck with expensive, off-campus options or couldn’t find housing at all.
Some students who are accepted into four-year colleges are opting for more affordable two-year colleges closer to home, counselors say. Chandra Scott, executive director of the nonprofit Alabama Possible, said she has reached out to the state’s community colleges to urge them to prepare for a last-minute influx of students.
“They’re going to hang in there as long as they can because they may really want to go to that four-year institution,” Scott said. “But if they don’t get the financial aid they need to get in on time, they’re going to have to make some tough decisions about whether they want to sit out a year, which we hope they don’t do.”
Students who don’t go to college right after high school tend to face more barriers to higher education, counselors and advocates say. While some states have programs to help students return to school, only four in 10 students who don’t go to college right after high school do so in the next decade, Granville said.
“After you decide to wait a year“That becomes a more lonely journey,” he said. “That can hinder someone’s chances of eventually getting a degree.”
Some students continue to deal with FAFSA issues even after they enroll. In Chicago, Golo filed a paper FAFSA in June to try to get a final aid package from DePaul, but was told the agency was backlogged with paperwork. Golo said the school hasn’t asked her to start paying until the paperwork is processed.
“I’m just a little bit scared to take out money knowing that I might be able to reduce it in a couple of weeks because I don’t know when it’s coming,” Golo said of her financial aid package. “It might come tomorrow. It might come in a couple of weeks. It might not come for a couple of months. But my future is just very unknown right now.”
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