A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education said less than 10% of the 4 million processed applications have been impacted. But that still means the error impacts thousands of dependent students who reported assets.
Wright State University’s financial aid department said student assets include checking accounts, savings accounts and 529 plans.
“This issue should not prevent schools from processing ISIRs and preparing aid packages, and only affects ISIRs delivered prior to March 21, 2024,” the U.S. Department of Education said in a statement. “To date, we have delivered over 1.3 million ISIRs to schools that are NOT affected by this issue, and schools can process those records as planned.”
The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, which represents more than 29,000 financial aid professionals at about 3,000 universities, criticized the error, saying the problem could push back financial aid packages.
“At this stage in the game and after so many delays, every error adds up and will be felt acutely by every student who is counting on need-based financial aid to make their postsecondary dreams a reality,” said NASFAA president and CEO Justin Draeger.
The U.S. Department of Education began rolling out a new version of the FAFSA last year. The new application included fewer questions, updated calculation tables and more eligibility for Pell Grants, federal grants to help low-income students pay for college. The Department of Education touted it as a “better FAFSA.”
However, families weren’t able to submit their FAFSA at all until January due to a delay in rolling out the new application (the usual start is October), and many families weren’t able to submit applications until February. Most colleges ask families to fill out the FAFSA by Feb. 15 for priority consideration.
Some FAFSAs have flagged errors, such as not signing the document. Cedarville University Executive Director of Financial Aid Kim Jenerette said the department initially told people they could make those fixes at the end of March. Now, that’s been moved to mid-April, he said.
“There is all sorts of misinformation within the students’ results of the FAFSA,” Jenerette said, noting one instance where a student was labeled as not Pell-eligible when the correct calculations showed they were. “And it’s just very confusing to us right now. And it will be confusing to families that it isn’t fixed.”
Jenerette said Cedarville has gotten back about 3,000 FAFSAs so far. Of those, about 500 applications were rejected.
He said the Cedarville financial aid department is running multiple tests to find any errors.
Jenerette asked students and families to be patient with financial aid offices, who are all in the same boat and working to deliver correct financial aid packages to students.
“We’re working as quickly as we can to get the correct awards out the first time,” he said.
Help for families
If you have questions about the FAFSA, you can call 1-800-4-FED-AID to speak with a specialist, though the wait time may be long.
The Federal Student Aid website also has a list of known FAFSA errors, which it has continued to update.
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