Credit: (AP Photo/Mel Evans)This year’s rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid has been complicated by a series of delays and issues preventing many students from completing the online form.
In New Jersey, only 29.9% of the high school class of 2024 had completed the form as of Feb. 9, down 36% from last year, according to the National College Attainment Network. The form became available months later than normal, pushing back the timeline for students to fill it out and for all of the steps that follow once it is completed.
The U.S. Department of Education said it will send processed FAFSAs to colleges and universities in the first half of March, and then it will likely take schools several weeks to send out aid offers to students. This means they will likely receive their offers weeks later than in previous years, shrinking the time they have to make a college decision unless more colleges and universities extend their deadlines for students to decide if they want to enroll.
Federal officials are still resolving some of the issues that have prevented students from completing the online application. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Education announced a temporary workaround for students whose parents do not have a Social Security number and were previously blocked from completing the online application. The announcement said a permanent fix is coming in the first half of March.
Executive board members from the New Jersey School Counselor Association shared advice for students and families who are filling out the federal aid application and making college decisions this year. Amy Lombardo is a high school counselor at Middlesex County Magnet School’s Piscataway campus and Jackie Schumacher is a high school counselor at Franklin High School. The following are interview highlights that have been edited for length and clarity.
NJ Spotlight News: What are you hearing from students who are applying for financial aid right now?
Amy Lombardo: There’s been a lot of issues that we’ve encountered, a lot of delays, a lot of frustration. A lot of — I don’t want to use the word giving up — kind of putting it off to the side and avoiding having to complete the FAFSA.
Jackie Schumacher: A lot of things that we knew to be common practice, like editing your FAFSA after you’ve already submitted it, now don’t seem to apply. I have students who submitted their FAFSA and then thought they could go back in and edit their schools after to resend their FAFSA to additional schools. We found out that, due to the change in the FAFSA and/or the waiting to process the FAFSAs until March, students aren’t able to go back and add schools.
NJSN: What should students who are struggling to complete FAFSA do?
AL: I tell students to keep track of the schools they’ve applied to with the FAFSA application. Keep a checklist, spreadsheet. Let’s make ourselves organized.
JS: I’m telling students they just have to wait to decide until the colleges give them their financial aid packages. I tell them to be patient and wait and hopefully you’ll get an answer soon. It’s not a good feeling to not be confident in terms of when they’re going to find out how much money they’re getting or if they’re getting any money at all.
NJSN: What would you say to a student who is thinking about giving up on FAFSA?
AL: I would tell them not to give up and to say what’s in your control is to complete that FAFSA. I like to keep track and keep motivating. This is just one obstacle that you’re going to have to face. That light at the end of the tunnel, come May, come June, you’re going to be graduating and you’re going to know what your plans are come the fall. I reassure them: you’re not the only one. Sometimes they do feel self-doubt.
JS: Students are getting frustrated when they can’t get past any point in the form and they just stop doing it, which is a problem. The whole process was supposed to be easier, but people are frustrated and giving up on completing these forms. I’ve made a lot of phone calls to parents and guardians because the students come to me, oftentimes frustrated, because they’re trying to do it on their own. It’s a lot of personal conversations with families to say “Don’t give up. Here are the resources.”
NJSN: Where can students go for help?
AL: Reach out to FAFSA. I’m giving them that number. This is the go-to place to get help. It’s just providing the family with the resources and the right support that they need to get directly from FAFSA to troubleshoot some of the issues.
JS: HESAA’s (Higher Education Student Assistance Authority) website with all of the FAFSA workshops they have coming up. I know a lot about completing the FAFSA and I can offer a lot of advice, but in this situation, I feel like it’s best to send them to HESAA.
NJSN: What advice would you give to students whose parents do not have Social Security numbers and have been blocked from completing the online form?
AL: That has been the number one problem I’m seeing. What I tell the students is make sure you check frequently to see when it’s available. I also say to them if you get stuck reach out to me, tell your parents to reach out to me, and we can walk through it together.
JS: Now there’s a workaround for it, but I haven’t had students come back to ask me about it recently.
