How Virginia college students can navigate this year’s unique FAFSA challenges

Normally by this time of year, students planning to attend Virginia Commonwealth University – and every other American college – in the fall are committing to schools and sending in deposits. 

But as many families with a college-bound high school senior know, this isn’t a normal year. 

Delays in processing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form have students across the country stressed out, and understandably so. Typically, May 1 is the national college deposit deadline – but this year, many students haven’t yet received need-based financial aid offers from schools because of the federal delays in processing applications. 

Typically, students file their FAFSA forms starting in the fall, meaning that by January or so, schools are receiving those forms and are able to create financial aid packages based on the forms. 

This year, the issues with the new forms meant that students couldn’t even start their applications until the end of December. That means schools like VCU are just now receiving financial information we need to process financial aid packages. This week VCU is starting to offer need-based aid packages to new students – nearly four months later than we usually do.

Without knowing how much financial aid they’ll receive to cover the cost, it could be challenging  for some families to decide which college their student will attend. 

At VCU, our message to students is that the most important thing is to remain committed to their college education. This year’s FAFSA issues are stressful, yes – but they’re a glitch in the system, which is not the norm. We want students to understand that VCU and college administrators around the country are working to help them. We’ll get through this! 

We applaud the federal government’s intent, which was to make the FAFSA form simpler and easier to use, especially for lower-income and middle-income students.

According to the Department of Education, simplifying the form should allow 610,000 more students to qualify for Pell grants, which go to low-income students, and almost 1.5 million more students will qualify for the maximum Pell grant. These are laudable goals.

This is an issue which especially impacts VCU’s students, because so many of them rely on need-based financial aid. 

In the current academic year, about 65% of VCU’s student body, and 71% of our undergraduates, are enrolled with a FAFSA. More than 30% of our student body is Pell-eligible, meaning their families have low incomes, and another third is made up of first-generation students. 

The FAFSA delay has a greater impact on those groups, but it also impacts middle-income families, who also often rely on need-based financial aid. In addition, the FAFSA is the first step toward other ways of paying for college, such as direct loans.

FAFSA applicants face ‘minor issues’ during soft launch of new aid process

Comparing the applications we received last year at this time to the ones we’ve received so far for next year, we’ve seen about 14% fewer FAFSA applications — which is still a better rate than the state and national averages. According to the National College Attainment Network, FAFSA submissions are down 23.8% in Virginia and down 29% nationally.

Our expectation is that we’ll see that number tick up as the federal government processes more applications. While VCU, like many schools, has a May 1 deadline for commitments and financial deposits for the coming academic year, we’ve extended our deposit deadline to May 15. We understand the position our students are in. 

In the meantime, there are proactive steps both VCU, other Virginia institutions of higher learning and students can take. 

On VCU’s end, we are processing aid packages as quickly as possible for the applications we’ve received. And this year, we’re also awarding merit-based financial aid earlier than we usually do, so students who qualify can use that to start making decisions. We’ve also made additional institutional aid available. 

We encourage students – and potential students – to reach out to their financial aid counselors at the college they are considering, via phone or email. 

And we encourage students to visit campus if they haven’t yet, to also speak in person with their financial aid counselor. Incoming students can connect with VCU’s financial counselors face-to-face and get a feel for the school, as well. 

We also want students to remember: every student who applies for FAFSA, and every college, are facing the same delays. A lot of students are just like them, waiting anxiously for their forms to process. And that will happen – later than we’d all like, but it will happen. Colleges are working with students to help make this process a little easier. 

And the most important thing is that students not give up on college because of these delays. Their future is too important to let it be sidelined by what is ultimately a temporary timing issue. The FAFSA is just one step toward the bigger goal – getting an education that will allow them to pursue their dreams.