MINNEAPOLIS — Big changes to financial aid forms are causing long delays, giving colleges less time to figure out offer letters, and students just weeks to make a decision.
"It is compressing an already compressed timeframe,” National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) Senior Policy Analyst Jill Desjean said.
Colleges across the country were preparing to receive millions of FAFSA forms this week to start sending offers to students, but the electronic forms never showed up.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education announced the forms won't be sent to colleges and universities until the middle of March.
"So, another six-week delay on top of the already existing delay,” Desjean said.
According to the Department of Education, this latest delay happened because the system it uses to calculate financial aid didn't include the latest inflation adjustments.
"The Department of Education estimated it was going to cost families $1.8 billion,” Chris Wills from College Inside Track explained.
Wills says the Department of Education decided to fix its system, which he says is good for students and families because it could mean more money for college.
"The downside of that is they need time to fix that error and so that's going to push this entire process later,” Wills said.
Experts say colleges will likely need several weeks to look through these forms so they can send financial aid information to potential students.
“Very few people will get financial aid offers in March. Early April to late April is reasonable and that may be even aggressive. It will be late,” Desjean said.
"Some students may not receive offers until May. We just don't know yet how this will play out."
This late arrival time could create problems for families because a lot of colleges have a requirement that students must make their final enrollment decision by May 1.
Desjean says the NASFAA is encouraging college leaders to consider extending their enrollment deadline this year to give students more time to decide.
"If they can give students a little bit more time it will definitely ensure students can make the best decisions for themselves,” Desjean says.
KARE 11 reached out to the University of Minnesota to see if college officials would consider an extension to their May 1 deadline.
A university spokesperson sent KARE-11 this statement:
“The University of Minnesota recognizes that the delays in the FAFSA process are causing additional stress and challenges for our current and future students. We are committed to helping students and their families through this time and are assessing the May 1 enrollment confirmation deadline for admitted freshmen. We’ll process the FAFSA information as quickly as possible upon receipt from the Department of Education. We do encourage students and families who have not completed their FAFSA form to do so now at studentaid.gov,” said Robert McMaster, the vice provost and dean of undergraduate education in a statement.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist: