Complications with the form college-bound students fill out to qualify for federal financial aid are delaying university financial aid packages.
The U.S. Department of Education redesigned its Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) this year to simplify the process.
Instead, students filling out the form have had , including being . This has led to delays in universities receiving applicant data.
On Wednesday, several college leaders testified before the U.S. House of Representatives鈥� Committee on Education and the Workforce about these issues, including UNC-Chapel Hill's Vice Provost for Enrollment Rachelle Feldman.
Feldman said her office was six months behind schedule and has only received 60% of the applications they would have in a normal year. Of those applications, nearly half need to be reprocessed and 20% have been outright rejected.
Although UNC-Chapel Hill has released its admissions decisions, the university hasn鈥檛 been able to make any financial aid offers, according to Feldman.
鈥淢y colleagues have talked about how rocky the FAFSA launch was when it came three months late,鈥� Feldman said. 鈥淢eanwhile, we had schools that were not receiving any data from the submitted forms and struggled to help families and students complete it 鈥� we feel like we鈥檙e flying blind without a clear path.鈥�
Last year, UNC-Chapel Hill announced a new financial aid program that covers tuition and fees for incoming students with household incomes of $80,000 or less. But, Feldman said, the university cannot let students know if they qualify for it until they receive full FAFSA information.
鈥淥ur financial aid professionals in schools feel like the rug keeps getting yanked out from under them,鈥� Feldman said. 鈥淎nd if they feel like that, imagine how our first generation families and students feel.鈥�
Feldman said those first-generation students, along with low-income, rural and students of immigrant parents are hurt the most by the FAFSA delay.
鈥�(Students) who鈥檝e heard all their life that college is out of their reach,鈥� Feldman said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e worked hard for 12 years, but all the voices around them are saying they can鈥檛 afford it. And we can鈥檛 get them the document that proves they can.鈥�
UNC-Chapel Hill has back two weeks, to May 15. Several other universities in North Carolina have also pushed their deadlines back in the wake of FAFSA delays.
