Filling out the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, this year is a little like attempting to purchase tickets online for one of Taylor Swift鈥檚 Eras Tour concerts. FAFSA users are encountering strict criteria to log onto the site, frustratingly long wait periods, and system crashes from overuse.
The stakes are a little higher for the 2024-25 FAFSA, though. It鈥檚 an essential piece of the overall college application process for the estimated who submit it annually, as it鈥檚 the only way to receive federal assistance for college tuition. The Department of Education released the newly designed FAFSA via a 鈥溾�� on December 31, 2023, announcing that, initially, the site will be available only periodically, thereby allowing for monitoring of site performance and functionality. Typically, the FAFSA application is released in October.
The long-awaited, revised FAFSA is the result of the , whose main objective is to make it easier to apply for federal student aid. So far, that promise has yet to be realized for users.
鈥淚t was definitely a bumpy start,鈥� said Jill Desjean, senior policy analyst at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, referencing anecdotal reports of users鈥� inability to get onto the site or to continue once they did gain access, as well as problems submitting completed applications.
Once the application process is running as intended, the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 office promises new and improved benefits to filling out the redesigned FAFSA application, including fewer questions to answer, translation into 11 commonly used languages compared to only Spanish and English in the former iteration, and broader eligibility to qualify for Pell Grants. In the interim, experts break down some of the application鈥檚 intricacies and obstacles, and offer advice on getting through them.
Delays to the new online FAFSA
This year鈥檚 delayed FAFSA application was always going to result in a compressed timeframe for students to weigh their financial aid offers from colleges, said Desjean. A recent announcement by the Education Department means even longer wait times. Shortly before the FAFSA鈥檚 soft launch, the department reported that it will be submitting completed FAFSA applications to colleges no earlier than the end of January 2024. The FAFSA Submission Summary (formerly called the Student Aid Report), which provides the estimated Pell Grant amount for eligible students, will not be issued until late January.
鈥淭his is very different than years past,鈥� said Desjean, noting that in previous years, colleges would receive and could confirm receipt of the FAFSA within one to three days.
These initial delays could produce a negative domino-like effect. With colleges receiving financial data from families later than usual; this in turn will delay college financial aid offices from putting together aid packages for individual families.
Additional barriers for certain applicants
College applicants who have at least one parent who is not a U.S. citizen are likely to encounter additional barriers to completing the application, explained Tessie Wilson, chairwoman of College Access Fairfax, a nonprofit that partners with Fairfax County schools to help students navigate the college application process.
Accessing the new online FAFSA requires all parents of applicants to have a , a username and password combination that serves as one鈥檚 legal signature. Previous iterations of the FAFSA required such an ID from only one parent. Creating the FSA ID requires a Social Security number. College-bound students whose parents can鈥檛 verify their identity via a Social Security number must fill out a lengthy paper version of the FAFSA instead of the online version, which the Education Department says should take about an hour and a half.
鈥淲e are concerned about that population,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just another hurdle.鈥�
Desjean echoes Wilson鈥檚 sentiment. 鈥淚 worry about those who are hearing stories that this is a nightmare,鈥� she said, 鈥淓specially people on the fence about college.鈥�
Desjean has a message to those students and the school counselors tasked with supporting them in their next steps on that path.
鈥淕o ahead and fill out the form,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his could be your ticket to college.鈥�
