FAFSA angst sweeps across Western Pa. for prospective college students

Many prospective college students and their parents are feeling angst over delays associated with the federal financial aid application, known as FAFSA, that millions rely on.

An update to the application system last year has resulted in delays this year. As a result, it could be mid-March before colleges receive income data submitted by students through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), officials say. The data was supposed to be received by colleges in early February.

The delay will likely impact how quickly colleges can send out financial aid offers for fall 2024 and how much time students have to weigh the offers as they make a major life decision.

Asked about the situation, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Joan Gabel expressed empathy for what students are experiencing. She also offered reassurance.

Though it ranks a “10 out of 10 in frustration and uncertainty,” Gabel said, the leader of this region’s largest university doesn’t think students should be panicking.

“Every single one of us has to deal with this. And so this means that we’re not going to allow — I mean, it would be impossible for us to allow — these students who need financial aid to be left out,” she said.

“The freakout, I think, comes from the uncertainty. And the disappointment comes from not being able to trust a process that was meant to make the process easier,” she said.

A limited number of colleges and universities from California to Minnesota to Pennsylvania have announced they are pushing back the traditional May 1 deadline by which students are expected to decide on where they will enroll.

Others are waiting for more information and guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, which is undertaking measures to help colleges through the delay.

Gabel, speaking in a brief interview after a Pitt Board of Trustees meeting Thursday, said the university is among the latter group. It is closely monitoring the situation and awaiting guidance from the Department of Education so it can develop a best practices approach to the situation.

In the meantime, university admissions representatives are working individually with students potentially impacted.

“Mostly, what we want them to know is that we know this isn’t their fault. And that as the guidance comes out, we will work with them, so that they aren’t thinking they’re forgotten,” Gabel said.

Elsewhere locally, Carnegie Mellon University said it is holding to its usual timetable.

“There are no admissions deadline changes at CMU with respect to what’s happening with FAFSA,” spokesman Peter Kerwin said.

At Slippery Rock University, officials are watching developments regarding the delay and will react accordingly, but so far have not received an influx of inquiries, said Amanda Yale, chief enrollment management officer.

“We have always honored extension requests when families need more time to weigh costs and options,” she said Friday. “It is a common feature of our admissions practices already and we openly communicate this practice to our prospective students and families.”

Slippery Rock holds admitted-student events in March and early April that could be helpful to families dealing with the FAFSA delay.

“We are working with families who have submitted their FAFSA and getting them estimated financial aid packages at our admitted student events,” Yale said.

PennWest University said it has always been flexible regarding the May 1 admissions deadline. To date, it has not received an uptick in inquiries over the FAFSA delay.

“PennWest does not have a FAFSA deadline for students. In fact, we assist students and families throughout the year to help them through the financial aid process and afford their education,” spokeswoman Wendy Mackall said. “We do encourage Pennsylvania students to submit their FAFSA before May 1 so they can be fully considered for Pennsylvania State Grants through PHEAA.

“However, even if a student submits their FAFSA after May 1, they will still be fully considered for any institutional merit and need-based aid.”

Upward of 17 million individuals fill out the free FAFSA form each year.

Across the nation, worry in campus financial aid circles has focused partly on how the delay will impact first-generation and other students from disadvantaged households. They may not have the support to navigate the issue and could be more prone to giving up.

That was part of the message Thursday in a guest essay published in The New York Times by Justin Draeger, president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and Ted Mitchell president of the American Council on Education.

“Those who can least afford to pay for college will be the most adversely affected,” they warned.

”Some students may be pressured into making one of the most significant financial decisions of their lives without having a complete picture of their options, ” they wrote. “Others may delay enrolling in college for another year, once the aid application process is running more smoothly. Or, worse yet, some students may become so frustrated by the complexity and confusion of this year’s financial aid process that they give up altogether.”

In Pittsburgh, Duquesne University isn’t modifying deadlines until it knows more but will “work with families on extensions on a case-by-case basis, if needed,” said Senior Vice President of Enrollment Management Joel Bauman.

Duquesne is already offering students financial aid estimates as well as additional guidance, having anticipated the potential problem.

“Every admitted student will receive a planning kit with which to enter information from the financial aid estimates we provide and derive their possible out-of-pocket cost scenarios,” Bauman said. “The kits also have contact information, so students can speak with our admission and financial aid counselors.”