Eric Zuniga, Campus Carrier deputy news editor
The delayed launch of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is creating uncertainty for the Office of Financial Aid and prospective students trying to make college decisions.
The Department of Education soft launched a completely overhauled FAFSA form on Dec. 31, over two months later than its usual opening date of Oct. 1. For about a week, the application was only available during certain times of day, with a virtual waiting room to limit the number of people using the form at once.
Vice President of Enrollment Management Andrew Bressette said the new form’s launch has been hampered by poor communication from the Department of Education.
“I think the Department of Ed did not do a good job communicating to those of us that are trying to help students what’s going to happen,” Bressette said. “[They] just left it up to us to kind of keep going and say, ‘Is it live? Is it working?’”
Colleges typically receive students’ FAFSA results immediately upon submission. But because of major changes to the form and aid eligibility requirements, the Department of Education is withholding results from colleges to ensure their accuracy. The department has not yet disclosed when colleges can expect to receive these results.
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Because of this, Berry’s Financial Aid Office, which usually sends its first aid offers to prospective students in December, has not issued a single official aid package.
“Zero students have been able to get official financial aid packets,” Bressette said. “I cannot tell you with any clarity when I will get information from the Department of Education. I’m blind as to what information I’m going to get; I’m blind as to when I’m going to get it, which means I can’t tell students how this is all going to work.”
Results are expected to be further delayed by the discovery of a major error in the new aid eligibility formula. A report in the Washington Post revealed that the Department of Education failed to include adjustments for inflation in the new Student Aid Index (SAI). The department says it plans to fix the error, which would have disproportionately hurt low-income students.
“That’s why there’s this urgency in having it fixed for this cycle and not wait one more cycle,” Director of Financial Aid Noemi Sarrion said. “It’s to actually deliver on what the promise of the new FAFSA was, which is giving access to more aid to more low-income students. It will have that effect once they fix the discrepancy in the calculation.”
The Department of Education anticipates awarding an additional $1.8 billion in Pell Grants once it resolves the error. Bressette said this should make Berry more affordable for low-income students.
“In addition to those already getting a Pell Grant, another 10 percent—could be 15, could be 20 now—are going to get additional money from the federal government to help make college affordable,” Bressette said. “Any additional money you receive as a Pell Grant, we will add on to a student’s package.”
Despite the delays, the Office of Financial Aid plans on maintaining its existing deadlines for filing the FAFSA. Returning students should file the FAFSA by Feb. 15 to have their aid renewed as soon as possible. Financial Aid hopes to begin sending returning students offers on March 15.
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According to Sarrion, Berry plans on honoring all existing institutional aid for returning students, regardless of their new level of need indicated by the SAI.
“We are going to honor the aid that the student is receiving this year as long as they meet the requirements of GPA [and] satisfactory academic progress,” Sarrion said.
The delay is creating a great deal of uncertainty among prospective students, however. With families having no sense of how much college will cost at this point, Bressette fears that many students’ college decisions will be rushed.
“We want [students] to come, to understand who we are and know the real Berry and feel like this is exactly the community for [them],” Bressette said. “My fear is without that affordability piece, it makes it harder for families to have the time to do that at a few schools to really feel like Berry is the right place.”
Bressette said that Financial Aid may begin encouraging families to use an estimator tool on the Department of Education’s website to provide families with unofficial offers if FAFSA results remain significantly delayed.
“What are the pros and cons of continuing to send estimated awards that may not fully capture what a student would receive but are closer than nothing,” Bressette said. “That’s what we’re really trying to weigh.”
This year’s FAFSA underwent a significant overhaul as a result of legislation passed by Congress in 2020. The Department of Education trimmed the form from 108 questions to just 36, implemented automatic input of tax information from the IRS, and introduced the SAI as a new indicator of financial need.
The SAI replaced the old Expected Family Contribution (EFC) number, which attempted to provide an estimate of how much money a family could put towards college expenses. The new figure is a number with positive and negative values that indicates distinct levels of financial need.
The SAI is intended to reflect families’ financial need more accurately by preserving more income and assets and expanding eligibility for the Pell Grant. But the new index also no longer indicates higher financial need based on a higher number of siblings in college. Families with farms or small businesses can no longer deduct certain operating expenses from their income as well.
Sarrion said that although the changes are intended to expand eligibility for aid overall, some students may not see as much of a benefit.
“There are many factors where you can see a student be benefitted, but another student, if [their] parents own a farm or a business, they might not see that benefit,” Sarrion said. “It depends on where you are looking at.”
Bressette said the impact of the sibling calculation may be mitigated by the design of the new SAI.
“They’re basically taking more of a family’s assets off the table as being for college [with the SAI],” Bressette said. “We’re really going to have to see the results to see how much it evens out.”
Sarrion encouraged returning students who might demonstrate less eligibility for federal aid with the new formula to talk to a financial aid counselor.
“That would be definitely a substantial change in the financial aid of the student, and we would expect the student to reach out to us and let us know,” Sarrion said. “That’s what we’re here for, to work with students one-on-one in particular circumstances.”
The Office of Financial Aid plans to keep students informed about the new FAFSA throughout the semester.
“We are going into uncharted territory in the next weeks and months,” Sarrion said. “But, of course, Berry has been reaching out to the incoming and returning class about what to expect and what is feasible and realistic at this point.”