Since January, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) has been having issues nationwide with its new form, which is causing delays in getting students the correct information to colleges. 

FAFSA is known as the largest source of aid from the government and can help students pay for college or trade school. Students have been dealing with this issue since the new form was released in January and just now getting information back from their schools.There is a form on their website that students can fill out to receive scholarships, loans and grants that students weren’t able to access until early January, which is three months later than usual. 

Before the new application, there were complaints about the number of questions on the form and too few students getting picked for student aid. The new form change was made to fix these problems and make applying for FAFSA more efficient and less time-consuming to help students according to abc7 News.

Post-secondary counselor Brad Kain said, “With the new application more students can receive more grants which helps limit the amount of loan cost.”

By the end of January students normally can know if they received financial aid from their colleges and have their decisions, but colleges didn’t start receiving students’ information until March because the new form was slowing things down and making the process a lot slower than before. According to the U.S. News, “As a result of the ongoing delays, school leaders and higher education organizations called for colleges to implement flexible deadlines this year and reconsider the annual May 1 National College Decision Day.”

High school students are already on edge because of the pressure from their academic performance and college applications and this is only going to put more pressure on them because of how important FAFSA is to students. Some students use the application to know what colleges they’re able to apply to and eventually decide on. 

Economics and US Government & Politics teacher Hailey Baumstein said, “While it’s intimidating, and talking about finances can be stressful, it’s crucial for financing student expenses. It helps students of all backgrounds understand how they can afford college.” 

While there are still questions and uncertainties about this FAFSA issue, very few students have heard back from their colleges and others are still waiting.