Federal financial aid snags leave teens in limbo across CSRA

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - FAFSA: Who knew a five-letter word could cause so much anxiety and chaos?

But it does.

Every year, millions of incoming and current college students have to fill out FAFSA – the Free Application for Student Aid.

It helps students pay for college through federal and institutional aid like grants and scholarships.

It was already a pain, but the government changed the process for the 2024-25 year.

It was one that included a redesign, fewer questions and modified formulas that determine aid eligibility.

But the rollout of the revamped application has been fraught with problems.

The biggest change causing the issues is the fact that the FAFSA application didn’t open until January of 2023.

Most of the time, the application is open in October.

It’s delaying decisions for thousands of students like North Augusta senior Julianne Hammond.

Hammond says she has dreamed of the day she would officially become part of the Clemson Tiger family.

“I want the college experience. I want to go off, I want to be able to twirl in college and I want to somewhere like Clemson,” said Hammond.

Her acceptance letter came in February, but she hasn’t been able to commit.

“The problem is financial aid. I just don’t know how much money I’m going to need to take out loans. I’m waiting to see what kind of grants I get, and what kind of scholarships to offer me. I can’t go to a college that I’m going to have to take out $30,000 a year for,” said Hammond.

Hammond is just one of thousands of students nationwide trying to navigate the chaos after the Department of Education changes.

Alexis Pope who is the Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management at Augusta University said: “We typically have about 10,000 FAFS’s from students at this point in the year, but we’ve only had about 1,500. Those 1,500 came in in the last three days.”

Between delays and some errors in formulas that needed to be corrected, colleges and universities are just now getting the data they need.

And high school seniors like Hammond most likely won’t find out their aid package in April like they normally do.

So they could miss the traditional May 1 deadline to commit to a school.

Luckily, some schools like Augusta University have extended the deadline to June 1.

“We want them to have several weeks to make that decision where they know exactly how much it’s going to cost them to attend. We want to be very comfortable that this is an affordable option for them,” said Pope.

But time is still tight.

Hammond has to have a decision into North Augusta High School by March 31 so she can participate in college decision day.

Clemson University won’t even look at her until it can confirm it’s received her FAFSA.

“It scares me honestly because I’ve been looking forward to this since I was, you know, in kindergarten. I was told this is what you’re going to be, this is where you’re going to be in 12 years. I’ve been excited about it and I want to partake in all of the things that my school has to offer. But I can’t do that when I don’t know where I’m going,” said Hammond.

Experts are advising students and parents to have a backup school ready.

Robert Farrington, founder of The College Investor, said: “I do see that more families are choosing backup options because a lot of state schools will still allow you to apply all the way through March and April.”

“So, if you applied to a private school and you’re like, ‘I need another backup,’ you still probably have time for your state school, even though it feels very late in the college issions process.”

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