Tech glitches and delays in the government’s latest Fafsa rollout are making it hard for families to apply for aid

See College Financial-Aid Applications Fall 57% by Oyin Adedoyin of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Less than half the usual number of high-school students have applied for college financial aid so far this year, following a bumpy rollout of the government’s new form.

Last year, the government revamped the Free Application for Federal Student Aid process in an attempt to streamline applications and help more families qualify for federal Pell grants. But after delays and technical glitches, colleges now won’t receive the application data until months later than usual.

As of late January, about 700,000 seniors had completed applications, down from roughly 1.5 million applicants the same time last year, according to the National College Attainment Network’s analysis of Education Department data."

"The Government Accountability Office launched an investigation into this year’s Fafsa rollout, following a request from Republican lawmakers."

"This year, the form wasn’t available until the end of December, and even then families didn’t have full access until January, though families still have time to apply."

"After the form first became available, parents and students complained about tech glitches and processing delays."

"parents said they have had to take time off work to finish the form. One persistent problem prevents a student with a parent who doesn’t have a Social Security number from completing the online form."

"Last month, officials said the Fafsa formula also had to be updated to factor in the effect of inflation, further pushing back when colleges will receive the data."

"“I’ve gotten better and more timely information from my TikTok feed,” Howard said [Joseph Howard, vice president for enrollment at Widener University]. “We’re getting insight from folks on the ground filing Fafsa more readily than we’re seeing updates from the Department of Education.”"