Federal student aid still up in the air for many

This episode explores the challenges and delays faced by students, particularly those from low-income and immigrant backgrounds, in obtaining federal student aid due to technical issues with the FAFSA application process.

1. Technical issues with the FAFSA application have created significant delays, leaving many students in financial aid limbo.
2. These delays disproportionately affect low-income, first-generation, and immigrant students.
3. The uncertainty surrounding financial aid amounts is causing some students to defer or reconsider their college plans.
4. Educational institutions are also feeling the pressure, with potential enrollment drops threatening their financial stability.
5. Despite these challenges, some students, like Vanessa Cordova Ramirez, eventually navigate the system successfully, though many others remain stuck.

1. The Struggle Begins

Vanessa Cordova Ramirez's journey through the FAFSA application highlights the system's complexity and its impact on immigrant families. Vanessa Cordova Ramirez: "If I don't receive anything, what am I supposed to do?"

2. Systemic Issues

Experts discuss the broader implications of FAFSA difficulties, emphasizing the stress on students and schools. Eric Hoover: "It's a whole lot of students... it's not just a question of how much money they will get."

3. Looking for Solutions

Discussion on the need for immediate fixes to the FAFSA system to prevent further educational disruption. Kristin Azer: "Who do we demand them from when the people that we can call have no answers themselves?"

• Stay Informed: Keep up with any updates or changes to the FAFSA process through official channels.
• Document Preparation: Ensure all necessary documents are ready and check for any specific requirements related to your family's immigration status.
• Seek Help Early: Contact school counselors or local college aid organizations for guidance and support.
• Explore Alternatives: Look into other scholarship opportunities and financial aid options in case of delays with FAFSA.
• Stay Resilient: Remain patient and persistent, as navigating government and educational bureaucracies can be challenging but rewarding.

This year's college application process was supposed to get easier.

That's because last year, the U.S. Department of Education announced changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.

The problems with the FAFSA form began last fall.

And with August and September around the corner, some applicants continue to experience technical issues.

Before this year, students would already know how much aid they're getting. But in 2024, not knowing, which is the case for many, could mean they can't go to college.

People

Vanessa Cordova Ramirez, Eric Hoover, Kristin Azer

Content Warnings:

None

Vanessa Cordova Ramirez
The college application process was supposed to get easier. That's because last year the US Department of Education announced changes to the free application for federal student aid, or FAFSA. Hi hello. My name is Vanessa Cordova Ramirez and I'm a mexican first generation student, hopefully attending college in the fall. The new formulas used to calculate how much money students would get meant more federal money for low income families and children of immigrants like Cordova Ramirez.

Well, I am interested in St. Josephs University and Manhattan College. Those are my top two. Maybe St. Johns.

Im thinking about it. Cordova Ramirez lives in Queens, New York and wants to become a radiology technician. She works two jobs and helps out a lot around the house. She wants to stay in New York for school to continue to help out her family and be close to her younger brother. So location is her top priority when choosing a college.

The second is of course, cost. But. But when Cordova Ramirez and her mom sat down to fill out the FAFSA earlier this year, their application didn't go through, just like many others with parents who do not have a Social Security number. Hi Vanessa. Hi.

NPR producer Janet Oozhong Lee went to visit Cordova Ramirez and her school counselor Kristin Azer at Williamsburg Preparatory High School as they tried again to fill out the form earlier this year. There's a box to check below that says I do not have a Social Security. So for somebody undocumented, when you click it out the box and you hit through. Continue. Cordova Ramirez comes from a mixed status family.

Even though she is a us citizen, her mom is not gotten to the. Second step, creating a username. We've made it to the third step and now this is address does make you feel like it's possible and then the error pops up. For more help creating your account call start the application without an FSA ID. You can complete the entire application and submit it without signatures or you can print a signature page and mail it in.

So did we just hit inaccurate information? Correct. That is true for the old form. That is not correct for the brand new application. What is the fix?

Kristin Azer
Who do we demand them from when the people that we can call have no answers themselves? Many students are holding off on enrolling at institutions because they need to know exactly how much they will owe in order to enroll. Angel Perez is the CEO of the National association for College Admission Counseling. Cordova Ramirez was in that financial aid limbo. She had gotten into all her top choice schools, including St.

Vanessa Cordova Ramirez
Joseph's, where the annual tuition is about $35,000. But she couldn't commit or put a deposit down anywhere without knowing how much financial aid she's getting from each school. If I don't receive anything, what am I supposed to do? Like, how am I going to pay for everything? Am I gonna go into the school that I want to?

Am I gonna pursue the career that I want to? Am I gonna be something in life? After many attempts to submit the FAFSA, Cordova Ramirez did finally get her form through. In May. I finally received my financial aid package from St.

Joseph's. And with the FAFSA amount that they're giving me and the scholarships from St. Joseph's, it looks like I'm gonna basically be going almost full ride, which is amazing because obviously it's more affordable for my family. But there are still students stuck in financial aid limbo. Consider this.

We're just a couple of months away from colleges and universities kicking off a new academic year. Before 2024, students would already have known how much aid they're getting. For many, not knowing could mean they can't go to college.

From NPR, I'm Sascha Pfeiffer.

This message comes from NPR. Sponsor the Capital one Venture X card. Earn unlimited two x miles on everything you buy, plus get access to a $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital one travel. What's in your wallet terms? Apply detailsapitalone.com dot support for NPR and the following message come from Carvana on a mission to make car buying more convenient and affordable than ever before.

In minutes, you can browse thousands of options under $20,000, visit carvana.com or download the app today to get started. David Lynch's films explore dark themes, but in a rare interview on wild Card this week, he says he's remarkably content. And you can be, too. We're supposed to be like little dogs where our tail is wagging and being happy, little smiles on our face all day long. This is the way it's supposed to be.

I'm Rachel Martin. Join us on NPR's Wild Card podcast, the game where cards control the conversation.

It's consider this from NPR. The problems with the FAFSA form the free application for federal student aid began last fall, and with August and September just around the corner, some applicants continue to experience technical issues. It's a whole lot of students. It includes low income, first generation students. In many cases, it includes students who are us born but have one or more parents who are undocumented.

I spoke with Eric Hoover, a senior writer for the Chronicle of Higher Education, who's been covering the FAFSA ordeal. It also includes a huge swath of broadly defined middle income students who have encountered problems with the FAFSA and who, in some cases, had to wait and wait and wait to get one aid offer, or to get aid offers from all the colleges they were waiting to hear from so that they could sit down at the kitchen table with mom and dad and try to make an apples to apples comparison of their aid offers. For some students, is it not just a question of how much money they will get, but whether they'll be able to go to college at all? Yes, absolutely. The FAFSA is a key that unlocks college for so many american families.

Kristin Azer
And without the federal aid, in many cases, without every last dollar that they will hope to receive, they're not going to be able to attend perhaps the college they most wanted to attend, but in some cases, any college at all. So this is obviously affecting students. I understand that some colleges are nervous about having possibly lower numbers of students for the next year, and maybe the dollars and the finances won't work out the way they want. What's the concern on the enrollment front? Yeah, great concern on the enrollment front, particularly at the many, many relatively small colleges that do not have gigantic endowments, as well as regional public institutions throughout the country.

I've been in touch with some college presidents and enrollment leaders who tell me that they're worried that when everything shakes out and the fall semester begins, that they are going to have five or seven or 15% fewer first year students than they did last year. They're concerned about that on a human level, but they're also concerned about the impact of that shortfall on the bottom line. And in some cases, the downstream effect of that enrollment shortfall could be budget cuts that really hurt, could be payer hiring freezes, and perhaps the worst kind of cuts that any college could make, which is to cut jobs, explain a. Little more why this affects college finances. How does the FAFSA aid fit into how colleges do their own financial planning?

Right. So if the FAFSA is the key that is going to unlock college for a given student, and without that federal aid, they really don't have the means to afford going to college x, well, then they can't enroll, and that's an empty seat on a college campus. And most colleges do not have the resources to fill the missing federal aid that so many students have right now with an incomplete FAFSA. So those empty seats are lost revenue. And an empty seat is a lost revenue, an empty bed or an empty, you know, a quad that has fewer students in it is also a bottom line that looks less healthy than it might otherwise.

Vanessa Cordova Ramirez
What are you hearing from the colleges and university officials you talk to about what they need to solve this problem? They want the glitches and technical errors that are continuing to foul them up. They want them fixed. They want to hear that students who still can't get through and complete federal aid form are not being ignored, and that if there need to be more workarounds that enable the FAFSA saga of 2024 to subside, it needs to happen now or a few weeks away from the 4 July. They just want these problems fixed.

That was Eric Hoover, a writer for the Chronicle of higher education.

This episode was produced by Alejandra Marquez, Hanse, Linnea Anderson and Brianna Scott. It was edited by Tin beat Hermaeus and Courtney Dorning. Sequoia Carillo and Janet Ujong Lee contributed reporting. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

It's consider this from NPR. I'm Sascha Pfeiffer.

Support for NPR and the following message come from BlackRock's podcast, the Bid. On the latest episode of the Bid, BlackRock's chairman and CEO, Larry Fink, discusses challenges facing investors such as retirement and others where the global capital markets figure into the solutions. Listen to the episode on the bid and subscribe for market insights from BlackRock's thought leaders. Rickwood field is the oldest baseball field in the US. It's also where comedian Roy Wood junior spent a lot of time growing up.

Racism was around, but his baseball field somehow was a separate oasis from all of that for blacks and white baseball. Birmingham and racing America on the latest episode of the Sunday Story from NPR's up first podcast. With more and more information coming at you all day, every day, it can be hard to know where to focus. The new consider this newsletter from NPR can be that focused. Every weekday afternoon, we take one of the days biggest stories and break it down in a simple, skimmable format so you can get a better grasp of one important topic and what it means for you in a couple of minutes.

Sign up for free@npr.org. consider this newsletter.