Asher Hagan

Put yourself in a scenario where you’re applying for college and the thing that could make or break your acceptance just got delayed until December. All of your plans were to apply to college in October but it was just set back two months and the anticipation couldn’t be more pressing. This was the case for all of the students across the U.S. applying for college when the FAFSA was announced to now be available in December as opposed to the strict October deadline that has been routine up until the 2023-24 school year. This delay has completely disrupted many students’ college plans and many college application schedules were disrupted by this as well making it a nationwide inconvenience.
As of May 9, according to WUNC, many students are still waiting for their financial aid for the upcoming college semester. This is due to the two-month delay of the FAFSA in 2023 which is going to cause many students to use money they don’t have when it comes to financing college. Representatives from the FAFSA cooperation have said that they don’t really have a strict deadline for the form but have regularly made it available to the public around October for the year’s newest seniors. This makes the already stressful and complex process of applying to colleges much harder for those who plan to fill out the FAFSA. Seeing that the FAFSA is essential for students to fill out who are applying to college, it seems wrong for the individuals of the company to not deliver on their part after a huge delay in the whole system.
CNN stated that many students haven’t finalized their applications because they are still unsure of when or if the FAFSA program is going to give them the aid they need to pursue college. Issues with the FAFSA aren’t in small numbers either with as many as one million students left unsure if their aid for college and other education is going to come through in the time that they need it. In January they also added a minor change to the form after it was sent out to millions of people which then further delayed the process of everyone receiving what they need.
If certain major changes were made to the form they should have been completed before the publishing of the document to the public. Due to last-minute changes, students may have been cheated out of major college opportunities simply because they’re unsure if they can afford college without the proper help. All students should be eligible for the same educational opportunities and there shouldn’t be one form that dictates the success of one individual to another based on their financial status. A small mistake, especially one that can be fixed with more throughout the planning, is something that has a huge impact on a large number of people and shouldn’t be happening in the first place.
Many individuals also have time to make changes or corrections to the FAFSA form that they’ve already submitted in December because of the changes that were made after publishing the form in January. The people who run the FAFSA program should have made sure that all of the changes were made before knowing that they would have to have a faster return rate on distribution of the funds for the students who applied to the form. If it weren’t for these small changes and the major delay of the release of the form, many of this year’s seniors would have been able to grab opportunities that they may not be able to now because colleges require the completion of the form. Seeing that millions of students across the country are now unable to apply to the colleges that they previously wanted, there should be debt relief offered to new freshmen when they start college in the fall.
The entirety of senior year is already stressful enough for many students who aren’t able to meet sufficient funds for college and have been left in the dark by one of the most reliable financial aid institutions. This was a major slip-up by the individuals in the federal government in charge of this program and has cost millions to be out of massive opportunities and the possibility of the careers that follow.