FAFSA Forms Finally Reaching Colleges

After months of delays, colleges and universities are finally beginning to receive the necessary financial aid information from students for the 2024-25 academic year, the Department of Education announced Monday.

The DOE said it began sending information to a few dozen schools this past weekend, indicating that the glitches and problems with the overhauled Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form are beginning to get worked out.

The DOE plans to fine-tune the process after receiving feedback from the first set of schools before ramping up sending the aid information to more colleges.

Getting Back on Track

Instead of releasing the FAFSA form for the following academic year last October, as in years past, the DOE made it available to students at the end of December 2023, and only began transmitting batches of FAFSA information in the first half of March. The cascade of delays meant that more than 100 colleges and universities have pushed back the commitment deadline for when they must hear from new students that is usually May 1.

Colleges Expecting a FAFSA Flood

Now colleges are expecting an onslaught of aid submissions. Students and their families are hoping that the forms will reach colleges in time for the students to receive financial aid offers at the beginning of April. This is bound to put colleges and universities under pressure:

“At peak, we expect that the majority of institutions will receive no more than 1,500 [FAFSAs] per day. The top 5% of institutions by volume may receive up to 25,000 [FAFSAs] per day,” according to the DOE.

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