SUNDAY MAY 12 2024 TRI-CITY 3C By this time of year, college- bound high school seniors are usually celebrating their choices, researching dorms and even thinking of their majors. This year, not necessarily the case. Because of a disastrous rollout of the new application for federal tuition aid, many still know how much tuition they would be paying and so have not decided where they can afford to go. The Education redesigned form for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid was supposed to make apply- ing for tuition aid easier and more accessible. But faced with a bureaucratic mess caused by technical meltdowns and severe delays in processing information and receiving aid packages, stu- dents say the new system has been anything but clear or streamlined.
The first signs of trouble began in December with the release and have cascaded since, creating uncertainties for stu- dents with graduation right around the corner. been a nightmare from point A to point said Reyna Atkinson, a 17-year-old from Michigan, who ultimately com- mitted to Michigan State Uni- versity after months of waiting. FAFSA is a free, standardized application for federal aid for college tuition that millions rely on. Students fill out one form, with details on their background and household income, to re- quest tuition information for the schools they list. Before the overhaul, applicants typically received their financial aid packages within 72 hours of submission.
But this year, the Education Department has to reprocess more than 500,000 applications, and students have been waiting for two, three months and counting. Students typically must com- mit to a college by May 1. Some colleges have extended their decision days until May 15 or early June because of the FAFSA problems. Even so, several students in- terviewed by The New York Times said they were making decisions without getting a full picture of tuition costs, a move financial aid experts discourage. Others said they commit without knowing how much their chosen college would cost.
Kenneth Seinshin, a 17-year- old from New York City who hopes to be the first in his family to go to college, started filling out his application the first week it came out. But it took months to troubleshoot the glitches he encountered; he finally sub- mitted in March. So far, he has received only one aid package, for Union Col- lege in New York, and he has yet to make a decision. whole process just really stressed me Kenneth said. Clover Schwalm, an 18-year- old from Michigan, was in a similar situation.
As a disabled and transgender student, she wanted a school with an acces- sible and inclusive environment. She still received all of her packages, including from schools of higher priority such as Savan- nah College of Art and Design, but committed to Arizona State. She said she has about moving to Arizona, but was comforted by the fact that it have a ban on trans- gender care for adults. not the best, but I also recognize that there are states that could be less she said. Simply completing the applica- tion has been a frustrating task for many.
Some have not been able to save their changes or make corrections, while others could not submit their form at all. So far this year, there has been a noticeable dip in the number of students who have completed the form, compared with last year. Among high schoolers graduat- ing this year, 35.6% had complet- ed financial aid applications through April 26, compared with 48.2% in the same period for the previous class, data analysis by the National College Attainment Network shows. data on FAFSA comple- tion takes a bad story and makes it even said Bill DeBaun, a senior director at NCAN, which tracks FAFSA applications. Reyna, the Michigan student, submitted her FAFSA form in January, but it processed until late March.
She was accept- ed to several schools, but the FAFSA system let her add them to her application, so she gave up on trying to get fi- nancial aid from them. Ava James, 17, from California, faced different, but still frustrat- ing, hurdles. When she tried to add her first name, Janice Cheryl, the system could not process the double name. She eventually figured it out, but then the system prematurely sub- mitted the form without her signature. It took her six weeks to fix it.
Another wrinkle has been the convoluted language. Vanessa Farris, a counselor for the Ayers Foundation Trust in McMinnville, Tennessee, said several of her students tripped over one particular question: the parents unwilling to provide their in- formation, but the student have an unusual circum- stance, such as those listed in question 7, that prevents them from contacting the parents or obtaining their a little thing, but it has a Farris said. Several stu- dents provided wrong answers, and they were not able to amend their mistake for months. The debacle affects some more than others. Agnes Cesare, a college counselor at UCLA Com- munity School, said she was worried about its effects on stu- dents from low-income families or racial minority groups the ones the new form was meant to help.
Cesare said that because of the arduous process, some students at her school had decided to pursue an associate degree and save up for a later. But she worries that once they are out of high school, they may not get the help they need to transfer to a four-year school. feels like the roadblocks are for those stu- dents, Cesare said. The process has been especial- ly difficult for students with parents who are in the country illegally. The new system asks parents for their Social Security numbers, which people in the country illegally have.
That was the case for Elizabeth Templos-Galindo, a 17-year-old in Tennessee, and her parents. They called the Education De- partment for assistance but were put on hold for five hours before learning of other forms of identi- fication her parents could sub- mit. Education Department offi- cials have acknowledged the glitches, and on a recent call with reporters, the deputy secretary of education, Cindy Marten, said they had been tirelessly to resolve those Officials added that students were now able to make corrections to their forms and that updated financial records were being sent to schools. Last month, the depart- ment announced that the leader of the Federal Student Aid office, Richard Cordray, would step down. While FAFSA is used by every school in the country, a small group of institutions a lot of them private and elite schools with a larger endowment and more students from wealthier backgrounds also uses the Col- lege Scholarship Service Profile, a financial aid application admin- istered by the College Board.
The CSS profile costs $25 per application, and schools that use it provide aid estimates using a different formula. Because that form have a bevy of glitch- es, students received estimates more quickly from CSS-affiliated schools than ones that use FAF- SA. Owen Keller, 18, from Maine, can speak to that. He filled out both FAFSA and CSS forms in December, and received tuition details from CSS-affiliated schools such as Bowdoin College well before his first FAFSA pack- age arrived in late April. Owen decided on Bowdoin even before receiving all of his packages.
The FAFSA blunder has made some reconsider their plans. Yajaira Vargas, 18, from Reno, Nevada, wants to study political science and become an immigra- tion lawyer. She got into her top choice, the University of Nevada, Reno, but able to apply for aid until May. Now, she is considering not going to college immediately and taking a gap year. I want to do she said.
Universities are also feeling the stress of the FAFSA disaster, said Christopher Murr, assistant vice president for financial aid and scholarships at Texas State University. know the U.S. Department of Education is doing their best at this Murr said, it seems every couple of days a new wrinkle, a new challenge that we have to adapt Experts are worried things may get worse this summer, when this debacle could collide with the a period when students who took all the neces- sary steps to go to college, in- cluding putting down a deposit, decide not to enroll by fall se- mester. Because of that, DeBaun said June 30 was seen as a crucial milestone, when the school year ends and high school students will no longer get access to coun- seling. we be able to connect students with the assistance they need to finish the process he asked.
CAROLINE GUTMAN NYT Elizabeth Templos-Galindo, left, who has had trouble filling out her FAFSA, with her student host, Sarah Adebiyi, at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, on April 18. The new application for federal tuition aid was meant to be simpler. High school seniors say it has been anything but, and some are still unsure of their plans after graduation. Financial aid fiasco has students asking which college they can afford BY COLBI EDMONDS AND BERNARD MOKAM NYT News Service MAANSI SRIVASTAVA NYT Kenneth Seinshin, a 17-year-old who hopes to be the first in his family to go to college, at his high school guidance office in Manhattan, on April 18. Like this content? Subscribers can find more like it Wednesdays in the Xtra Money section of our eEdition.
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