For Maria Artica, a freshman at Richard Bland College, a two-year university in Virginia, enrolling was like entering “a new world.”
Artica, who is Hispanic, is pursuing an associate degree in biological sciences and plans to become a doctor. As a first-generation college student, she was told that her higher education would lead to a better life. But there isn't much help available to pay for education, she says. That makes the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, a gateway to loans, grants and other funds, her “main reliable source” of funding.
Although he had no experience with financial aid forms, he was able to figure it out last year. But this year he was more defiant. Forms were updated and the timeline for processing them was delayed. Artica ended up filling it out around the time of final exams for the fall semester. At one point, Artica accidentally clicked on a box indicating that his parents would pay his college bill, because the wording confused them. He clicked send thinking it would take her to the next section where she could enter his parents' financial information.
For a while, it seemed like that click had overshadowed his brighter future.
He was in the car with his mother after making the mistake, fearing he had blown his chance: “I thought, 'Oh my God, my God,'” he says. She spent the rest of the day on the phone with a customer service bot and a live chat service, trying to navigate a server that kept crashing. She didn't resolve herself and the fear just grew: What if she couldn't get financial help?
Just a few months later, in mid-April, the form was opened for corrections, which reassured Artica.
She was not alone. When the corrections option was opened, 16 percent of the 7 million FAFSA applications Revisions necessary, a number higher than usual. The stark figure is the result of a new update aimed at simplifying the clunky format.
While the fiasco primarily derailed high school seniors, many college students like Artica also rely on the process to access federal student aid, especially with the cost of college rising. And when nearly half of all students don't finish college (and many young students doubt the value of a degree), it sends another signal that could steer students away from higher education, especially low-income and high-income students. first generation. It may have triggered a drop in enrollment that some experts worry may have occurred. a greater impact in access to university than COVID-19.
An annoyance or something worse?
While students noticed problems with the FAFSA late last year, they actually started much earlier. The update dates back to the FAFSA Simplification Act of 2020. Update execution accounts. describe a process that was rushed and flawed from the beginning, including a federal report that put into doubt the plausibility of the schedule for its implementation.
Experts expect the fiasco to have long-term implications for universities and future students.
Analysis of the Department of Education's latest enrollment data suggests that bungling is largely responsible for a 40 percent decrease when completing federal student aid applications among high school students. In Virginia, where Artica goes to school, there has been a 33 percent drop in terminations. In California, the drop was 46 percent.
It has shaken confidence in the financial aid system, even leading to a congressional investigation. Colleges will deliver delayed financial aid packages and students' college decisions have been clouded by uncertainty.
But for now, for current college students, the immediate distress lies in the delays.
Zhenni He, a freshman at the University of California, Merced, also had trouble with the update. She is studying computer science and engineering.
I had wrongly clicked on a link about how to apply for subsidized loans. The application left out some income information and she wouldn't receive help unless she could edit it, she says. However, unlike the previous year, the application showed that she had been processing for months, preventing her from making the change.
Many other students had made the same mistake, he realized when reading posts on the social network Reddit.
“It was really upsetting,” he says.
But she considers herself lucky. At the end of March, she received an email. Her university, Merced, had extended the deadline to receive information about financial aid to May 2, according to the email. For now, she says, “it's okay.” She was still working on the fixes when she spoke to EdSurge.
Going forward, some warn that more such delays are possible.
In April, Artica, the Richard Bland College student, was able to grant her request. It was still confusing. She is still uneasy because her parents need to create a FAFSA account to complete the process. It is another possible obstacle.
But he's glad the government is trying to improve the process, he says. He makes students anxious, especially students with immigrant parents. Ultimately, even mistakes are okay, Artica says, because that's how you learn.
