College Applications Surge for Fall 2024 Admissions

FAFSA Glitches Leave Millions of College Applicants in Limbo

Millions of college applicants are facing delays and uncertainties due to glitches in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application process.

Approximately 30 percent of FAFSA forms are currently facing potential processing or data errors, the agency’s student aid office said Tuesday in an online bulletin. Additionally, a separate category of applications needs corrected information from students. Processing errors have led to a significant number of applicants mistakenly appearing to qualify for more financial aid than they are actually eligible to receive.

“There’s nothing more important right now at the Department of Education,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Wednesday during a congressional hearing on President Joe Biden’s education budget proposal. “We’re working on this around the clock, because we want to make sure our students have information they need to make informed decisions.”

DIFFICULT DECISIONS FOR STUDENTS AND FAMILIES

The FAFSA chaos has forced many students and their families to make difficult decisions, with some students even opting for safer safety schools offering full scholarships, despite receiving offers from more expensive private colleges.

Olivia Maynard Payne is an Advanced Placement student from Lutz, Florida who wants to study biology. She committed to her last-choice school, the University of Southern Florida, because it was the safest financial choice. Her mother, Ann Maynard Payne, is a single parent who relies on permanent disability payments to support Olivia and a grandson. Olivia has been juggling multiple part-time jobs, working up to 30 hours a week, to save for college. The Paynes were banking on FAFSA to help cover some of the college costs, but the widespread application issues prevented them from signing the online form.

“This new algorithm has disrupted and caused so much anxiety for me, and especially Olivia,” Maynard Payne tells NBC News. “She’s not happy. This is not her school.” But holding out for aid information while campus housing slots filled up wasn’t an option, she says.

​​Sherri Schendzielos has four out of six children currently in or applying to college. Schendzielos and her husband completed FAFSA forms for their four kids, all of which are listed as processed, but they have yet to receive a single financial aid package.

“It’s like I just submitted information out into a black hole,” Schendzielos tells NBC News. “At this point, I don’t even know if we’re ever going to hear anything.”

Sources: NBC News, Politico, Federal Student Aid

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