Education Department starts sending financial aid data to colleges after months of delays
WASHINGTON — After months of delays and technical difficulties, some colleges and universities are starting to receive federal data they need to put together financial aid offers for prospective students, the Biden administration said Monday.
The Ministry of Education said it sent a batch of student data to “several dozen schools” on Sunday and is making the final updates before expanding to more universities. The department did not say which schools received the first batch or how much student data was sent.
The delay has cut into the time schools normally have to put together financial aid packages before the typical May 1 deadline for students to commit to college. Many colleges have extended enrollment deadlines as they wait for the federal government to respond, leaving families across the country wondering how much financial help they will receive with tuition.
The overhaul of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid delayed the usual rollout of the form from October to the end of December. The department subsequently launched the new version to address persistent bugs in the system, but many families reported difficulties accessing the form.
Congress ordered the update in 2020 to simplify the notoriously complex form and expand federal student aid to more low-income students. The new application reduces the number of questions from 108 to fewer than 50, and uses a new and more generous formula to determine eligibility for federal student aid.
The delays have had major consequences for higher education. FAFSA information is used to award state and federal education grants, and schools use it to create financial aid packages for prospective students. In the meantime, families often have only a vague idea of how much they would have to pay, which can be a dealbreaker when choosing a college.
Advocates fear the raid will deter some students from pursuing higher education, especially those who were already on the verge of college.
Repeated delays have become a blemish for the Biden administration, which has blamed Congress for rejecting requests for more money to overhaul information systems and update the decades-old application process.
Republicans in Congress say the Government Accountability Office has launched an investigation into the administration’s handling of the overhaul.
Each year, approximately 17 million students submit the FAFSA as part of their financial aid applications. So far, 3.6 million students have been able to complete the new FAFSA form, according to the department.
The department has updated its formula to account for inflation, which will increase the number of aid students are eligible for. But the initial release did not include the updated inflation tool.
In a letter to the department in February, more than 100 Democratic lawmakers pressed for answers on how the department planned to minimize the impact of the delays on families.
“Any delay in processing financial aid will most impact the students who need help most, including many students of color, students from mixed-status families, students from rural backgrounds, students who are homeless or in foster care , first-generation college students, and students from underserved communities,” they wrote. “If institutions want to support students’ ability to make informed decisions about their futures, they need clear guidance and resources from the department immediately on all next steps.”
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