USA, — The Department of Education officially "soft-launched" the newly re-designed free application for federal student aid (FAFSA) form this weekend, although anxious families and students eager to fill it out still encountered some website issues over the holiday weekend.
The form, which is required to obtain federal student grants and loans, has typically been released October 1. This year's congressionally mandated overall changes were designed to make filling out the form easier, although some families complained they couldn't access it at all.
"Some people have had no problems at all; other students or families are saying, 'Well, I’ve had this glitch or that glitch,'" said UT Arlington Executive Director of Financial Aid, Scholarships and Veterans Aid Benefits Karen Krause. "I think with any new process, that's not uncommon."
The Department said it would take the FAFSA site offline during the soft launch phase to improve the site and asked users to return later to complete the form. Information entered in the form is "securely saved in the system" even if the website becomes unavailable.
The new form promised to have a third of the questions of the previous iteration and redesigned how aid amounts are calculated, which the Department of Education said would mean thousands more Texans would qualify for assistance.
However, the delays in accessing the form remained frustrating for organizations that help students and schools with the college application process.
"It’s the unknown," said Travis Hill, the director of college and career readiness at scholarship organization Dallas County Promise.
He worried less time for students to fill out the application would mean fewer would fill it out, and fewer would go to post-secondary education.
"This is just another barrier for them and we want to try to strip as many of those barriers away as we can," Hill said.
Most colleges and universities have pushed back their financial aid deadlines in anticipation of the delays. At UT Arlington, Krause said students now have until April 1.
"Just take a breath. We will get this done as quickly as we reasonably can," she said.
Schools won't get the first batch of completed FAFSA forms until the end of the month, so Krause said students don't need to complete the form as fast as is typically recommended.
"I wouldn’t recommend waiting very long, but you know, a couple three days may help ease some of the logjam," she said.
Hill recommended pulling together all the documentation needed to complete the form while the issues with the website are being fixed.
"Then you’re going to have an easier time to get through that process," he said.
The delays will have a ripple effect, however, meaning students will get aid awards late and have less time to weigh them in their decisions.
"We know how important this is," Krause said. "We know students and families are using this information to make their decisions to come."
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