FAFSA delays: What students should do ahead of June deadline

The June 30 deadline for FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) applications is just weeks away as prospective college students navigate errors in the process that have delayed recipients from knowing how much student aid they will receive. The delays are creating further uncertainty over whether Americans can even afford a higher education, coming at a time when the US Department of Education opted to raise student loan interest rates for the 2024-2025 year.

ScholarshipOwl Director of Student Advocacy Jennifer Finetti discusses the impact these delays are having on Americans' abilities to attend college, offering advice and outlining opportunities students can take advantage of while still waiting for any FAFSA corrections.

So if you haven't submitted, you should do that right away. For any students still waiting for financial aid offers, those students and their parents should be following up directly with the financial aid offices of the colleges that they are considering to see what is going on," Finetti tells Wealth Host Rachelle Akuffo. "Is there something that's missing from their file that's causing the delay, or simply to prod the financial aid office and get those offers in."

Yahoo Finance goes in-depth to explain everything prospective students need to know about the FAFSA process.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Wealth!

This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.

Video Transcript

High school seniors are graduating and with college on the horizon in just a few months, many are still wondering how they're going to pay for it.

FAFSA delays are adding uncertainty on top of stubbornly high interest rates and the enormous cost.

All factors for teens seeking higher education here with tips for the college bound is Jennifer Finetti, the director of student advocacy for Scholarship Owl.

Thank you for joining me this morning.

So first of all, break down the ongoing issues that we're seeing right now with these FAFSA applications.

Uh the FAFSA is brand new this year and as a result, there were some technical glitches when the FAFSA launched back at the end of December.

Um those glitches have now been resolved but it took some time and so students and parents were left really hanging waiting for financial aid offers.

Many of those offers didn't start coming until the end of April which is really late and it made it very difficult for students to be able to quickly make their admission decision.

Um Most students have now made their admission decision.

Most of those financial aid offers have now been received.

Uh But it really was kind of a pins and needles situation unfortunately.

And so in terms of the domino effect, which students have been most affected by this, you know, I think any student that is, was really counting on financial aid to afford college was obviously affected by this.

Uh certainly low income and middle income students, I think were affected the most.

But, you know, the the vast majority of students are still relying on financial aid to help pay for college.

Uh The cost of college is so high that even upper income families are, you know, were hoping to get some financial aid for their child.

So for people who aren't sure on the status of their FAFSA application or they're worried that at this point, it perhaps still hasn't been approved yet, what should they be doing?

So, first of all, you know, the financial aid deadline for the FAFSA is June 30th, that's the federal deadline.

So any uh students who have been kind of sitting by and kind of waiting for these glitches to resolve themselves.

You only have a few weeks left now to apply with the FAFSA.

So if you haven't submitted, you should do that right away.

Uh for any students still waiting for financial aid offers, uh those students and their parents should be following up directly with the financial aid offices of the colleges that they are considering.

Um you know, to see what is going on is there something that's missing from their file that's causing the delay or simply to prod the financial aid office and get those offers in and for those that have received offers, but it's perhaps less money or less support than they were expecting.

Is there a way to negotiate that package?

There can be um you know, if the student has applied to a private university or a uh out of state school, there is some flexibility typically uh in those financial aid offers.

So those students can contact the financial aid office and say, hey, uh you're my first choice school.

I really would like to attend.

But you know, is there something we can do here?

Are there more scholarships I could qualify for?

And in some cases, those schools will go ahead and offer something to the student.

Um If you are focusing on an in-state public university, there isn't as much flexibility there though.

Um But even in those instances, if you think that your FAFSA results are wrong, if you feel that you should have been offered more aid than you were, it's worth following up just to check and make sure your financial aid offer is even correct.

And so in that calculation, then when people are trying to figure out just how much debt they need to take out.

Cos obviously, it's, it's not just the tuition, you have books, you have other things to consider.

How should they be calculating that, you know, I always tell students to try to avoid debt.

Right.

That's the first choice.

Um, if you must take on some amount of student debt, I recommend only taking out federal student loans do not take out private loans.

I discourage parents from taking out parent plus loans or other loans to help pay for college because it's so much harder than for parents to be able to save for their own retirement.

Um If they have a additional Children going to college later on, it just makes it more difficult if parents are taking on debt to help pay for college as well.

And in this, in this final stretch ahead of the deadline, what's the biggest mistake you tend to see students and families make in this last scramble for financing?

Uh The biggest mistake I see is that students stop applying for scholarships.

Typically once their admission decision has been made, um you know, they get excited, they think, ok, you know, our deposits been paid, I can now focus on summer activities.

I can focus on decorating my dorm.

Uh Really though these students should be focusing on applying for scholarships all summer long uh and also all year round.

Uh you know, a lot of students and families don't realize that scholarships are available year round.

Um On the scholarship all platform, we always have over half a million dollars and currently available scholarships no matter what month of the year you're applying.

Um So you know, you're gonna miss out on those opportunities if you don't apply and also you can earn enough scholarships to perhaps avoid taking out all federal student loans.

Um, and then I also tell students please work full time during the summer, part time during the school year.

You know, sometimes parents will say, you know, being a student is your job, you don't have to work while you're in school.

I disagree.

Um, If you are a student, you can work part time 10 to 15 hours a week, not only to help pay for college, but also to get really valuable job skills.

So that when you graduate from college, you're not only going to have your degree, you're also going to have experience that you can use to get a job.

Yeah, that was certainly the motto in our house.

Uh We were certainly all told to make sure that we worked during college as well.

Appreciate you breaking down all those great tips, Jennifer Finetti, Director of Student Advocacy for Scholarship Owl.

Thank you for taking the time this morning.

Thank you.