The FAFSA woes haven’t gone away for college-bound students, as financial aid experts now fear some freshmen could find out they’re enrolled this fall but with no money to pay for it.

In a glitch-ridden rollout for the new FAFSA form, the free application process for financial aid, the redesigned forms came in late and plagued with problems that led to confusion.

“We are going to have, by mid-September, students who start to get bills from their institutions, without any possibility to pay those bills,” said Audrey Fisch, who runs More Than Bootstraps, which helps families navigate the process.

Fisch predicted trouble ahead due to FAFSA delays. “So you bang your head against the wall, you give up and you say, ‘Well, I hope it’s going work out,'” she said. “And then those students are going to be in for a rude awakening. And what are our institutions going to be able to do to support those students?”

More Than Bootstraps is proactively reaching out into local communities, and has so far steered 1,200 New Jersey students through this year’s vexing FAFSA process.

Among them were graduating seniors at three Passaic County high schools. For many non-English-speaking families in cities like Passaic, especially those with undocumented relatives, it’s an intimidating experience. So Bootstraps enlisted some bilingual college students who’d already benefited from their program, and could reassure applicants that the process is safe and confidential.

New Jersey received a $100,000 federal grant, part of a nationwide fund to help boost FAFSA applications. Those applications fell by almost 10% statewide during the last school year, many in under-served districts, and the new FAFSA form isn’t helping those numbers improve, said Yaritza Gonzalez,  who founded College Money Chica,

“A lot of students are getting frustrated and just saying, ‘Oh, well, I’m probably not going to get any student aid at all. So forget it,'” she said.

“I have a couple of students who committed to a school and just two weeks ago received their package and realized, “Oh, there’s no way I can afford this,” Gonzalez continued. “And it really throws a wrench into their plans, and it’s really impacting families.”

Colleges are welcoming the help. “When organizations like More Than Bootstraps — or when community colleges step in, like we can — we can fill that void for students,” said Rebecca Royal, dean of enrollment at Passaic County Community College. She said two-year schools offer students a more affordable option, and they’re also counseling anxious freshmen through the FAFSA process.

New Jersey’s state financial aid deadline for state-funded Tuition Aid Grants is Sept. 15.  As for next year’s FAFSA, that’s also been delayed, with a soft launch in October and a full rollout in December.

The state is also providing one-on-one counseling through the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority’s website.