"Richard A. Cordray, chief operating officer of the Education Department’s Federal Student Aid office, has overseen the disastrous rollout of the form that makes colleges possible for millions of students," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports.

..."In session after session, financial-aid officers expressed their exasperation and exhaustion. They indulged in gallows humor about eight-day work weeks, sleepless nights, and canceled summer vacations. Even so, some said they were as determined as ever, steeled by the task of pushing through an unprecedented fiasco. A couple teared up when describing their commitment to helping frustrated students who are still stranded in FAFSA limbo.

In a written statement, Justin Draeger, NASFAA’s president and chief executive, said the latest FAFSA holdup will harm the most vulnerable students: 'The idea that some college students are hoping to begin classes in a matter of weeks and are still unable to get a final financial aid offer is unacceptable. The longer we go without the ability for schools to efficiently and quickly make corrections to student FAFSA records, the greater the uncertainty becomes for students who are still hanging in the balance.'

Even if the FAFSA goes live on October 1, financial-aid officers worry that the federal-aid process will suffer from further glitches and unexpected delays. 'This patchwork functionality is not how the system is intended to operate and is exactly the kind of situation that we hope to avoid for next year’s FAFSA,' Draeger said in his statement. 'We continue to urge the department to ensure that the entire FAFSA system — from the application itself to processing and the ability to make corrections — is up and running smoothly by the time the application goes live.'"

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: 6/18/2024