Below are NASFAA's recent appearances in the media.
FAFSA: 'Unforced Error' in Aid Calculations Will Likely Cause More Delays for Students March 28, 2024-"A calculation error with the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) sent incorrect data to colleges processing financial aid awards, impacting 200,000 students who may have previously received financial aid letters," Yahoo Finance ...
Citing FAFSA Mess, Colleges Want Relief From New Gainful Rule March 27, 2024-"As colleges and universities scramble to process student financial aid applications and send out award letters, institutions want more time to comply with reporting requirements in the Education Department's new gainful employment and financial valu...
FAFSA Miscalculation Impacts Some Pittsburgh-Area Borrowers March 27, 2024-"A miscalculation in college students’ financial aid information means that over 200,000 borrowers’ information needs to be recalculated — and some Pittsburgh-area students are among those affected," The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette repo...
Latest FAFSA Error Affects Aid for 200K, Offers for Everyone Else March 26, 2024-"Students and families may have to wait even longer for college financial aid offers this spring. The U.S. Education Department miscalculated financial need in almost 15% of the 1.5 million Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms it pr...
Delayed Financial Aid Forms Trickle Into UTEP, Higher Ed Campuses March 26, 2024-"The information that colleges and universities need to prepare financial aid offers for the millions of students who want to attend those institutions started to arrive at the campuses two weeks ago – about three months behind schedule," El Pa...
FAFSA Glitch Imperils Financial Aid for 200,000 Students March 26, 2024-"Millions of American students rely on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to afford college. The financial aid form is required for any student seeking federal loans or grants and is used by most colleges offering their own financia...
FAFSA Error May Prolong Financial Aid Delays For Applicants March 26, 2024-"The Department of Education disclosed an error in its evaluation of federal student aid, potentially leading to extended delays for thousands of applicants," LiveNOW from Fox reports.
The Feds Just Botched Financial Aid Data for Roughly 200K Students March 26, 2024-"The United States Department of Education sent out hundreds of thousands of student financial aid assessments to colleges in recent weeks that have since been found to be inaccurate, the department shared last week," KLRD Radio Dallas reports.
‘Another Unforced Error’ in the FAFSA Fiasco March 25, 2024-"The notoriously rocky rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA)keeps getting rockier," Inside Higher Ed reports.
The FAFSA Blunders Continue March 25, 2024-"Roughly 200,000 of the 1.5 million federal student aid records sent to schools now need to be reprocessed by the Education Department," POLITICO reports.
California Extends Deadline for Students Seeking State Financial Aid Amid FAFSA Turmoil March 25, 2024-"California students will have an extra month to submit applications for state financial aid, a deadline extension to help with ongoing setbacks and delays that have plagued the roll out of new federal forms that colleges and states rely on to calcul...
Potential Processing Delays for Financial Aid Due to Calculation Error March 25, 2024-"The U.S. Education Department (ED) said it has discovered a calculation error in student financial aid applications sent to colleges this month and will need to reprocess them, potentially continuing delays for college applications," Diverse: I...
Student Aid March Madness March 24, 2024-"This isn’t the right kind of March madness. The Education Department’s confused rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or Fafsa, grew more chaotic Friday when it announced that incorrect data had been sent to colleg...
Feds Spoil Financial Aid Applications of 200,000 U.S. Students March 23, 2024-"The U.S. Department of Education has sent out approximately 200,000 faulty student financial applications to colleges due to an error in its processing, the agency announced on Friday," The Daily Beast reports.
Education Department Sparks New GOP Anger as Cardona Pivots on Financial Aid Blunder March 22, 2024-"Republicans already livid with the Biden administration for sinking the college admissions season into turmoil with a bungled financial aid rollout are jabbing Education Secretary Miguel Cardona for trying to spread the blame," POLITICO reports.
‘Another Unforced Error’ in the FAFSA Fiasco March 22, 2024-"The Education Department acknowledged Friday that a calculation error led to inaccurate aid estimates for a sizable portion of student aid forms processed in the past few months," Inside Higher Ed reports.
Miscalculation in FAFSA Formula Is ‘Another Unforced Error’ March 22, 2024-"A technical problem with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, has resulted in inaccurate estimates of some applicants’ aid eligibility, the U.S. Department of Education announced on Friday. The latest snag in a series of com...
A FAFSA Calculation Error Could Delay College Aid Applications—Again March 22, 2024-"In an already tumultuous spring for students and families making decisions about college, the U.S. Department of Education on March 22 announced the latest blow to what was supposed to be an easier process for applying for financial aid," Educa...
Education Department Botches College Financial Aid. Again. March 22, 2024-"The disastrous rollout of this year’s federal financial aid application hit a new snag Friday, with the Education Department saying that roughly 200,000 of the 1.5 million-plus applications processed and shared with schools and states so far w...
Education Department Announces More FAFSA Processing Errors March 22, 2024-"The Education Department announced on Friday that about 200,000 student financial aid records it sent to schools included errors in the data," POLITICO reports.
Another FAFSA Snafu Could Delay Students’ Financial Aid Even Longer March 22, 2024-"Hundreds of thousands of students who applied for federal aid to pay for college now risk potentially open-ended delays as enrollment deadlines loom, thanks to another miscalculation by the Department of Education," NBC News reports.
Federal-Aid Forms Are Finally Flowing to Colleges. But Many Concerns Remain. March 20, 2024-"Justin Chase Brown took last week off. It was spring break at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where he serves as director of scholarships and financial aid. 'Just trying to have a little calm,' he told The Chronicle last Friday, 'before the s...
Pitt Extends Commitment Deadline for First-Year Students to May 15 March 19, 2024-"The University of Pittsburgh announced on Feb. 23 that it would extend its commitment deadline from May 1 to May 15 due to the U.S. Department of Education’s delay in sending the Free Application for Federal Student Aid data," The Pitt News re...
Student Aid Forms Start Trickling In March 18, 2024-"The Department of Education began sending batches of student aid information to colleges last week, following through on the delayed and highly disruptive FAFSA timeline it laid out in late January," Inside Higher Ed reports.
The Financial Aid Debacle Hurts Poor Students the Most March 18, 2024-"The Department of Education created an administrative hellscape last year when it rolled out the biggest overhaul to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid in decades while restarting student loan repayment," The New York Times writes.
FAFSA Applications Crater After Rocky Rollout March 17, 2024-"The number of students who have applied for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is far behind previous years, leaving experts concerned many may opt out all together after a tumultuous rollout of the new system by the Department of ...
Minoritized, First-Gen Students Most at Risk from FAFSA Delays March 13, 2024-"Iné Collins has been a school counselor at Ewing High School in New Jersey since August 2022. This year, helping her high school seniors through the newly simplified FAFSA application process has been more stressful than simple," Diverse: Iss...
Inside the Blunders That Plunged the College Admission Season Into Disarray March 13, 2024-"There were just days left to process a batch of federal financial aid applications when Education Department officials made a fateful discovery: 70,000 emails from students all over the country, containing reams of essential data," The New York Time...
New FAFSA Form is ‘Frustrating,’ CUC Students Say March 13, 2024-"When freshman Ashland Thomas filled out her Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, form online in December, she felt continually frustrated by the website," The Spectator reports.
Daily Briefing: Active Learning at Research-University Scale March 12, 2024-"The president’s budget proposal released on Monday drew praise from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators because it calls for eliminating federal direct student loans’ origination fees, but the Association of ...
How Creating the New FAFSA Unraveled March 11, 2024-"Congress tasked the incoming Biden administration with carrying out one of the most consequential updates to the federal financial aid system," The Washington Post reports.
FAFSA Update Headache: How’d We Get Here? March 7, 2024-"The lack of certainty surrounding the rollout of the updated Free Application for Federal Student Aid, also known as the FAFSA, has plagued many in higher education for months now," Volt writes.
Students With Undocumented Parents Have Hit a FAFSA Road Block. Here Are 3 Options March 5, 2024-"The new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, for 2024-25—touted by the U.S. Department of Education as the 'Better FAFSA'—was supposed to streamline the user experience and channel more aid to a broader pool of applicants,...
Transparency Bills Seek to Reveal the True Costs of College February 28, 2024-"University students in Alaska kept asking Republican state Sen. Robert Myers why they were being blindsided with requirements to buy expensive textbooks after they signed up for classes, he said," Stateline reported.
Social Security Number Glitch On FAFSA College Aid Form Triggers Latest Fix February 23, 2024-"Students whose parents don’t have a Social Security number are now able to apply for college financial aid, according to the Department of Education. The department has announced that it is fixing a glitch in the newly revamped Free Applicatio...
U.S. Offers Temporary Patch for FAFSA Technical Glitch February 22, 2024-"The Education Department said Tuesday it will fix a technical glitch in its new Free Application for Federal Student Aid that has locked out students whose parents do not have Social Security numbers," Inside Higher Ed reports.
Partial FAFSA Fix Lets Students from Immigrant Families Apply for Financial Aid February 20, 2024-"Students whose parents lack a Social Security number can finally fill out federal financial aid forms after the Biden administration announced a workaround Tuesday for one of the most glaring problems with what was supposed to be a simpler, easier f...
Education Department Says FAFSA Fix Is Coming for Social Security Issue February 20, 2024-"A fix is on its way for students who haven't been able to complete the new federal financial aid application because their parents don't have Social Security numbers, the Department of Education said Tuesday," USA Today reports.
Flawed FAFSA Rollout Impacting Students, Schools, Campuses Across Iowa February 18, 2024-"By the end of the first week of this month, the number students at Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids who had submitted a Free Application for Federal Student Aid — a gateway to higher education for many — was just 61, fewer than half...
Details Trickle Out About $50 Million FAFSA Support Fund February 15, 2024-"The U.S. Education Department wants to spend up to $50 million to help underresourced colleges adjust to the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, but more than a week after publicly announcing that plan, there are more questions than answer...
FAFSA Complications Cause Setbacks for Students, Universities February 14, 2024-"The Free Application for Federal Student Aid can be the deciding factor for students entering college. This complicated form has had problems in the past and it just keeps piling up," Northwest Missourian reports.
Citing FAFSA Delays, U.S. to Ease Requirements for Colleges February 13, 2024-"The U.S. Education Department is relaxing a number of requirements so that colleges and universities dealing with delayed student financial aid information can better focus on processing aid applications and delivering aid packages to students," Ins...
Education Dept. Ramps Up FAFSA Support for Colleges as Lawmakers Seek Fixes February 13, 2024-"Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Tuesday announced more steps the department is taking to help colleges as it continues to try to smooth out kinks in the rollout of its revamped financial aid form," The Washington Post reports.
Education Department to Ease FAFSA Verification Requirements This Year February 13, 2024-"The U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday it will reduce verification requirements this year for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid amid the rocky release of the updated form," Higher Ed Dive reports.
Amid Federal Delays, Brown Postpones FAFSA Deadline February 13, 2024-"This year, students applying for financial aid using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form were met with delays following significant changes to the form, leading Brown to extend its own FAFSA deadline to March," The Brown Dail...
‘Time for Plan B’: The FAFSA Waiting Game Is Forcing Colleges to Adjust on the Fly February 13, 2024-"Rob Reddy knew things were about to unravel. Late last year, as everyone and their dog was waiting for the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, to finally become available, he saw exactly what college officials everywhere saw: 'It...
University of California and Cal State Push Back May 1 Commitment Deadline February 8, 2024-"The University of California and California State University systems announced Wednesday they will both extend their enrollment commitment deadline in light of delays related to the Federal Application for Free Student Aid," Higher Ed Dive reports.
FAFSA Problems Pile Up, Leaving Students and Parents Scrambling February 8, 2024-"The new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms, which were marketed as a simpler and easier process for parents and students, have turned into a nightmare, giving families anxiety and stress over whether their students will have what...
Opinion: Every FAFSA Delay Puts College Further Out of Reach February 8, 2024-"Each year, more than 17 million students complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, hoping to secure the financial support they need to afford college. But this year, operational glitches and repeated delays in the U....
FAFSA Glitches May Keep Students From Getting Crucial Financial Aid Info February 8, 2024-"The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a vital tool for prospective college students and their parents seeking financial aid. Most colleges use the form when deciding how much aid to offer applicants, and over 17 million students en...
Department of Education Lends Colleges a Hand After FAFSA Backlash February 6, 2024-"More than a month after the Education Department’s rocky launch of its new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the agency on Monday detailed new plans to support colleges struggling to accommodate a series of delays and hitches. But the ...
FAFSA Delays Are Leaving Students in Limbo. California Campuses Don’t Expect Help February 6, 2024-"The U.S. Department of Education is attempting to solve issues associated with this year’s rocky rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and ensure colleges and universities release financial aid packages in a timely ma...
Using Financial Aid Data to Help Students Meet Basic Needs February 5, 2024-"A growing body of research has shown that student persistence and college completion are strongly connected to and determined by whether students’ basic needs are being me," Inside Higher Ed reports.
Education Department Announces ‘FAFSA College Support Strategy.’ Here’s What It Involves. February 5, 2024-"Education Secretary Miguel A. Cardona announced on Monday a federal initiative to help colleges process the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA. But the plan does not mention fixes for the technical problems that are sti...
How the Biden Administration Is Working to Address FAFSA Frustrations February 5, 2024-"The Biden administration announced Monday it's adding funding and resources to help speed up FAFSA applications for college students, hoping to counter months of delays that have frustrated prospective students and colleges alike," Scripps Media.
Amid Rocky FAFSA Rollout, Education Department to Deploy Staff to Help Colleges February 5, 2024-"The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday that it plans to send federal financial aid personnel to lower-resourced colleges to help smooth the rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid," Higher Ed Dive reports.
In Wake of Hiccups and Tight Deadlines, Feds Beef Up Supports for Fledgling FAFSA February 5, 2024-"The newly designed Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, intended to streamline the user experience and offer more aid to a broader pool of applicants, has been branded the 'Better FAFSA,'" Education Week reports.
3 Steps That Could Boost The Biden Administration's FAFSA Support Strategy February 5, 2024-"It is no secret that the rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid is going poorly. Delays, mistakes, and confusion reign as the Department of Education implements the FAFSA Simplification Act. Some of this is due to errors, a...
Colleges Begin Pushing Back Deadlines Amid FAFSA Delay February 2, 2024-"The news that colleges won’t receive FAFSA applicant info until March compresses an already tight timeline. Usually, the FAFSA opens in October and colleges receive data shortly thereafter," Higher Ed Dive reports.
A Call for Deadline Extensions After FAFSA Delay February 1, 2024-"A coalition of higher ed professional associations and advocacy organizations issued a letter Wednesday urging colleges to extend their typical May 1 commitment deadline for accepted students in light of a nearly two-month delay&...
Colleges Should Extend May 1 Decision Deadline Amid FAFSA Delays, Higher Ed Groups Say February 1, 2024-"The FAFSA is usually made public at the beginning of October, with colleges receiving applicants’ information shortly thereafter. In turn, many institutions require their first-year applicants to decide if they will enroll by May 1," Higher Ed...
Minnesota Colleges Scramble to Re-evaluate Decision Deadlines After FAFSA Delays February 1, 2024-"Some Minnesota colleges are scrambling to figure out if they should extend their decision deadlines after the U.S. Department of Education announced it would be sharing students' financial aid information with schools weeks later than anticipated," ...
FAFSA Data’s Latest Delay: March January 31, 2024-"Colleges were primed to receive data from the revamped Free Application for Federal Student Aid this week, only to find they’re in for a longer wait," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports.
Adjusted FAFSA Data Pushed to March January 31, 2024-"After recognizing a mistake in how family income is applied to financial aid packages for incoming 2024-25 FAFSA applications, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) said they will fix the error, which adjusts for inflation and affects the Student Ai...
College Financial Aid Further Delayed for Students as Feds Try to Adjust for Inflation January 31, 2024-"Colleges and universities won't receive students' financial aid applications until early March, the U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday, another wrinkle in a months-long delayed rollout that has families, financial aid officers and C...