Impact of FAFSA Delay on Students

 

The US Department of Education announced that availability of student FAFSA has been delayed – this has understandably raised concerns from students and families about whether financial aid packages will be available in time to meet application and admission deadlines, and how colleges and universities will respond.

The most important points for students to understand:

  • This delay is affecting only the timing of the award notification – it is not impacting the amount that students will eventually receive.
  • We anticipate that students will be able to enroll for fall semester with full information about their financial aid award.
  • As such, this delay need not have any impact at all on plans to enroll for fall semester.
We recognize that this delay is stressful for students, but the financial aid and admissions staff at our colleges and universities are committed to working with students to make the financial aid and enrollment process as smooth as possible.

Questions and Answers

This depends on when the US DOE makes the FAFSA data available. Our colleges and universities will be prepared to process it as soon as it becomes available, although they will be working through a backlog, so please be patient.

To prepare for fall semester, students are urged to complete the FAFSA and visit the school’s net price calculator on the school website.

For graduate admissions, admitted applicants are encouraged to discuss their situation with the school’s graduate admissions team if this delay is impacting the decision-making process.

This web page will be kept up to date with the latest information. Students can also contact the financial aid office of the college or university in which they are enrolled.