"The new Free Application for Federal Student Aid will launch by Dec. 31, the Education Department announced Wednesday—dashing the hopes of some that the form, already delayed by three months, would be available before the winter holidays, when students are at home and college offices are closed," Inside Higher Ed reports.

... "'Every day matters, and financial aid offices cannot begin reviewing financial aid applications, modeling student eligibility, and ultimately packaging and communicating financial aid offers until applicant data is provided to them by the U.S. Department of Education,' said Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, in a statement. 'Once financial aid offices receive that information, distributing financial aid offers will likely take at least several more weeks.'"

"Draeger added that financial aid staff at institutions will work to protect students 'from the adverse effects of any truncated timelines.'"

"In addition to simplifying the actual form, Congress directed the Education Department to retool the underlying methodology that determines students’ financial aid eligibility. Because of those changes, institutions likely will need more time to review students’ aid applications and figure out how much money to offer them."

"'We want to be able to turn around aid offers as soon as possible,' said Karen McCarthy, vice president of public policy and federal relations at NASFAA. 'There will be at least several weeks of a delay there before they’re able to do that.'"

NASFAA's "Notable Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Articles included under the notable headlines section are not written by NASFAA, but rather by external sources. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.

Publication Date: 11/16/2023