Key FAFSA deadline approaches

The Ides of March is shaping up to be a key date for students and families stuck in limbo because of delays in processing applications for college financial aid.

Experts say the Department of Education is targeting mid-March to begin releasing data from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.

The data covers family income, assets and other financial factors that carry substantial weight in the amount of student loans, work-study grants, scholarships and other student financial aid.

If the data starts trickling out by mid-March, experts say it could still take months for all of the information to be transmitted by the federal government to colleges and universities that would then be under a time crunch to notify prospective and current college students of their aid package for the 2024-25 school year.

All this chaos stems from efforts by the Education Department to simplify and streamline the FAFSA. Since the new FAFSA form became available three months later than normal on Dec. 30, about 4 million forms have been successfully submitted, the government said.

Students typically receive financial aid award letters shortly after admissions letters go out. But not this year, thanks to the FAFSA processing delays.

Since I last wrote about FAFSA filing problems several weeks ago, the Department of Education has taken steps to help schools deal with the lengthy delays.

The steps included eliminating several administrative burdens such as verification of certain FAFSA information.

The Education Department is also providing more support to smaller schools and historically Black colleges and universities. It has earmarked $50 million for technical assistance and support during filing season.

Will these steps be beneficial?

“While the initiatives can certainly help the processing delays, they pale in comparison to having to process another 14 million FAFSA forms in a month to get the data to colleges and universities by mid-March,” said Jack Wallace, director of government relations at Yrefy.

One thing is for certain: Be patient, as I’ve said before. That also means staying in contact with financial aid departments at the schools you’ve applied to. Applicants need to be “patient but persistent” in following up on their FAFSA filing with colleges and universities, said Wallace.

As he noted, financial aid is on a firstcome, first-serve basis. “Once the money is gone, it’s gone,” he said.