Flawed FAFSA rollout impacting students, schools, campuses across Iowa

By the end of the first week of this month, the number students at Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids who had submitted a Free Application for Federal Student Aid — a gateway to higher education for many — was just 61, fewer than half the 125 Jefferson applications submitted through the same period last year.

In a Cedar Rapids Community School District reporting 57 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch this year, nearby Kennedy High School had 111 FAFSA applications submitted as of Feb. 2 — about 65 percent of the 172 submitted over the same period last year.

Linn-Mar High School in Marion reported 175 filed through February, about 63 percent of last year’s 280. Down Interstate 80 in Iowa City, 132 students at West High have submitted applications, a meaningful drop from 210 through the same period last year.

And none of the 380 high schools in Iowa are reporting any “completed” FAFSA applications this year — where schools like Iowa City High last year had 176 completed through Feb. 2 — simply because they can’t, thanks to rampant delays and what some have called a “smorgasbord of errors” and glitches.

“The FAFSA delays have taken a toll on students and parents,” Katie Anderson, college and career transition counselor for Solon High School, told The Gazette. “The only thing I can tell them is that it is not just them. To remember that this is happening for everyone, and you just need to be patient at this point.”

But seniors are getting antsy — as their final high school semester ticks down. Counselors are getting nervous — as frustrated students consider higher ed alternatives. And colleges and universities are getting overwhelmed with process glitches, anxious about what the issues could mean for enrollment, and creative about how to navigate the novel complexities and help others do the same.

“Low-income and first-generation students are really impacted,” Anderson said. “Especially when they are relying on financial help and are trying to make their final college decision based on what financial support they may be getting from different institutions.”

How we got here

Today’s new FAFSA flaws are an outgrowth of efforts to resolve old ones through a FAFSA Simplification Act passed in December 2020. Among the biggest changes was to cut the number of questions by two-thirds, from 108 to 36, and amend question language to make it easier to understand.

The law also created a new platform, so students could import tax information, and it expanded the living expenses allowance included as part of the cost to attend college — in hopes of addressing food and shelter insecurity among students.

But even in 2022, with the long-awaited FAFSA simplification looming for the 2024-25 academic year, some financial aid officers and administrators expressed skepticism the U.S. Department of Education would be ready.

Waiting to see what the new forms would look like, how they would comply with new rules, and how eligibility would be calculated going forward, counselors, advocates, and families voiced concern.

“In the best of circumstances, schools will be stressed about the department’s ability to pull this off,” Justin Draeger, president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, told Inside Higher Ed in October 2022. “I would say we are not under the best of circumstances.”

Fast forward to fall 2023 — with 17 million-plus students expected to file a FAFSA for help covering college — those concerns manifest with the start of the new filing season. Typically released on Oct. 1, the new FAFSA saw repeat delays — with many prospective applicants reporting struggles with access even after its “soft launch” Dec. 30, three months late.

On Jan. 8 — in the week after the delayed update went live — the U.S. Department of Education announced it had received more than 1 million FAFSA applications to attend college between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025.

But hiccups continued, and the department Jan. 30 announced more problems — keeping campuses from getting student applicants’ federal aid information until March, at the soonest. The department, according to that announcement, expects to start sending student FAFSA information — including Institutional Student Information Records — to colleges in batches in the first half of March.

That’s about two months later than usual and less than two months before the May 1 student commitment deadlines for many campuses.

“At Coe, we have adjusted our decision deadline to June 1,” Coe College spokeswoman Natalie Milke told The Gazette last week — echoing a move that a growing swath of colleges and universities are taking on behalf of students still in the dark about what aid they might be able to access.

Although many of Iowa’s public and private colleges and universities are sticking with their May 1 decision dates, most are promising flexibility for those dealing with FAFSA challenges.

“We are currently staying with the May 1 deadline until we know more information,” Cornell College Director of Admission Drew Shradel told The Gazette. “It’s still early in the FAFSA delay timeline, and we want to make sure we know as much as possible before we make any decisions on pushing the general deadline back.”

The University of Iowa also is sticking with May 1 for now, as is the University of Northern Iowa.

“But, again, UNI recognizes the impact the FAFSA process is creating for families this year,” UNI spokesman Pete Moris said. “We will continue to be as flexible as possible for students seeking to attend UNI.”

At Iowa State University, spokeswoman Angie Hunt said the May 1 deadline is specific to refunds and that students can accept admission at any point — as ISU offers “rolling admissions and considers applications as received.”

“Admissions is working closely with financial aid on the timeline to ensure students have adequate time to make a decision after receiving their financial aid offers,” she said.

Kirkwood Community College — as an “open access” campus — similarly doesn’t have priority deadlines. But, Kirkwood Senior Financial Aid Director Matt Falduto said, a large number of its students need aid to pursue college.

“And we can't really tell them because we don't have any FAFSA data to help them,” Falduto said. "We can just speak in generalities, which is really hard on students and families, because they're trying to figure out, can we afford this?“

Aid office impacts

That flexibility and individualized attention the FAFSA issues have demanded is among the many reasons financial aid offices across the state are working overtime this year. They also are managing new rules and what will be truncated processing times.

And Education Secretary Miguel Cardona last week announced a range of steps his department is taking to help.

Among other things, the department is reducing FAFSA verification requirements and suspending through June reviews to confirm colleges are meeting requirements to receive federal student aid — save allegations of fraud or suspected breach of duties.

“With the delays, there is a good chance that our financial aid team will have a conflation of workflow that causes substantial issues during the summer months,” the Coe College Office of Admission and Financial Aid told The Gazette. “We try to put our students’ — both current and prospective — needs first but acknowledge the timing will pose a challenge within our college as well.”

Last year at this time, the University of Iowa had more than 32,000 Institutional Student Information Records and had packaged more than 22,000 financial aid offers, according to UI Financial Aid Director Brenda Buzynski.

This year, she said, her office has none and doesn’t know for certain when it will get them. Even with the federal promise of some student data in March, Buzynski said, “We do not know when, how many, or which ISIRs we will receive.”

“There may be 30,000 ISIRs at the Department of Ed right now that should be sent to us,” she said. “The question is, will they send all 30,000? Will they send batches of 2,000? Will they send us ISIRs from FAFSAs that were filed in early January or early February first? When will I have a critical mass of these ISIRs?

“We do not know, nor has the Department of Ed shared their ISIR distribution plan with schools or state agencies.”

Student fallout

Churning out aid offers can take weeks once universities receive student applicant information from the federal government, which has campuses worried about the potential impact on students — including those who need financial help to even consider postsecondary education.

“I think this is a concern for higher education in general,” said Cornell’s Shradel about a higher ed landscape recently upended by COVID-19 and the departures it prompted among students who were either repelled by the virtual experience, concerned about viral spread, or financially unable — given personal or family demands.

“The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) has been very vocal about what this could do to the image of higher ed.”

Russ Johnson, a counselor with the Iowa City Community School District, said that although families who do get into the new FAFSA system have found the forms easy to complete, students have and continue to have “a multitude of issues.”

“I do think the FAFSA delays have had a negative impact on the number of students submitting college applications, especially first generation college students or students with limited knowledge of the college admission process,” Johnson said. “A decrease in the number of applications submitted by students from underrepresented populations will likely mean a decrease in the number of these students attending college in 2024/25.”

With Iowa’s demographics shifting to more low-income and minority high schoolers — including those who would be the first in their family to attend college — UI’s Buzynski said resolving the FAFSA issues is essential.

“Navigating completing the ‘24-‘25 FAFSA form may be challenging for first-generation college students, students with non-English speaking parents, and those who may not have resources readily available to complete online forms,” Buzynski said. “These delays may be a setback for first-generation and low-income students who depend on timely financial aid offers to make college decisions.”

Without information on aid, she said, some students might choose to start working instead — at least for a year. And then, Buzynski said, they run the risk of never returning.

“The most vulnerable populations may be the most adversely impacted by these Department of Education delays,” she said. “The delays and the fact that not all students can complete the ‘24-‘25 FAFSA is creating inequities.

“No longer do we have a level playing field.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com