Minnesota colleges scramble to re-evaluate decision deadlines after FAFSA delays

Some Minnesota colleges are scrambling to figure out if they should extend their decision deadlines after the U.S. Department of Education announced it would be sharing students’ financial aid information with schools weeks later than anticipated.

“In the larger financial aid world, it is a very big deal and significantly changes timelines, especially for schools and their admitted students who are trying to make a decision about where they’re going to attend next year,” said Brian Lindeman, assistant vice president of Admissions and Financial Aid at Macalester College, which is so far sticking to its usual schedule.

In a typical year, nearly 18 million Americans fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, a form overseen by the U.S. Department of Education that is used to determine which government loans and grants students should receive. Students can elect to share their information with colleges, which can then download the data and use it to determine if people are eligible for aid they offer as well.

But the U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday that schools won’t be able to access that information until March — weeks later than anticipated. That will leave students with less time to compare competing offers before the May 1 decision deadlines that many colleges have in place.

“It’s a big deal, and it’s looming larger and larger,” said BG Tucker, senior director of programs for College Possible Minnesota, an organization that aims to help students from underinvested communities access higher education. “My biggest concern is that this is going to discourage and dissuade families.”

National organizations representing financial aid officers were quick to express their frustration.

“These continued delays, communicated at the last minute, threaten to harm the very students and families that federal student aid is intended to help,” Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, said in a statement.

The U.S. Department of Education typically opens the FAFSA to students in October, and college aid offices are often able to start downloading their information a couple of weeks later. This year the department attempted to update and streamline the form and didn’t open it until late December.

When the form opened, some students and families experienced glitches. Early versions didn’t account for inflation. Staff at College Possible Minnesota heard from students who got booted off the site or had trouble submitting information if their relatives didn’t have Social Security numbers.

“It really is [adding] insult to injury for these students to not have these systems working,” said Isaiah Allen, the organization’s senior director of external relations.

Financial aid officers said this wasn’t the first time the Department of Education has pushed back the timeline for sharing students’ data. The announcement Tuesday didn’t explain the reason for the latest delay.

Colleges are weathering the delay differently.

Doug Anderson, a spokesman for the Minnesota State system of colleges and universities, said they “do not anticipate that this delay will have an impact on financial aid awards themselves.”

Leaders at the University of Minnesota acknowledged they’re re-examining whether their deadlines will still work — but haven’t yet announced any changes.

“The University of Minnesota recognizes that the delays in the FAFSA process are causing additional stress and challenges for our current and future students,” Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education Robert McMaster said in a statement. “We are committed to helping students and their families through this time and are assessing the May 1 enrollment confirmation deadline for admitted freshmen.”

Lindeman expects Macalester College will be buffered from some of the delay’s worst effects because it’s one of four Minnesota schools that asks students to complete the CSS Profile, a separate financial aid form run by the College Board. Macalester College began using the form for its aid decisions decades ago because it asks additional questions, such as whether families incurred large medical bills and how much they anticipate earning in the coming year.

Using the CSS Profile “has made this easier,” Lindeman said, noting that Macalester has been able to send its aid offers on the normal timeline.

He expects the process could be more complicated for their admitted students who also applied to colleges that rely solely on the FAFSA and are still waiting to hear from those other schools.

“At this point, we are talking about that. We are sympathetic to that,” Lindeman said. “We have not made a decision to alter our May 1 [deadline].”