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The botched rollout of a revamped process to apply for federal financial aid could have long-lasting effects, with students receiving less money for college this fall and others so fed up they鈥檙e . 

Now, with the start of the next financial aid season less than three months away, the U.S. Department of Education won鈥檛 promise it can avoid a repeat.

The department is 鈥渨orking toward鈥� opening the Free Application for Federal Student Aid on time and ensuring 鈥渁 smooth experience,鈥� a spokesperson told 麻豆精品, but dismissed last week鈥檚 bipartisan vote by the House education committee to legally enforce an Oct. 1 start as an unhelpful 鈥減olitical stunt.鈥�

comes as financial aid officials are dealing with another delay hindering some students from receiving final aid packages for the fall. The complications have also deterred others from even applying for assistance. Completion rates remain below last year鈥檚 rate, suggesting enrollment will stay down this fall.

鈥淎re we going to close the gap? It would be a really herculean effort,鈥� said Bill DeBaun, senior director for data and strategic initiatives at the National College Attainment Network, an organization of college access organizations. Summer, he said, isn鈥檛 typically FAFSA season. But even increasing the rate by 3 or 4 percentage points would mean 鈥渢ens of thousands of additional鈥� students receiving funds for college. 

Members of Congress say forcing the department to release next year鈥檚 FAFSA on Oct. 1 will avoid the confusion and chaos that families and colleges endured this year. 鈥淓stablishing a hard deadline 鈥� will provide students, families and schools with much needed clarity and stability,鈥� Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, who chairs the House education committee, said before the July 10 vote.

Six Democrats on the committee who voted against the bill argued that Congress didn鈥檛 provide to help the department make the switch and predicted it could lead to even more errors. 

鈥淚 want FAFSA to work; we all want FAFSA to work,鈥� said Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott, the ranking Democrat on the committee. 鈥淲hat we don’t want is for the department to rush to meet arbitrary deadlines and push out a FAFSA form once again that has the same technical problems.鈥�

鈥楢 lot of anxiety鈥�

Schools that predominantly serve students whose parents are not U.S. citizens 鈥� the population most harmed by the FAFSA overhaul 鈥� have been especially stressed.

鈥淚t’s been a rollercoaster,鈥� said Ingrid Fragoso, a counselor at KIPP Austin Collegiate in Texas. Only about 10% of the charter school鈥檚 students have parents with social security numbers. The redesign first blocked them from completing the form and then required聽 to submit it. 鈥淚n the beginning, there was a lot of anxiety around how to help our students.鈥�

At the peak of the chaos, in February and March, the counseling team phoned the department daily to troubleshoot issues for families. While waiting on hold, the counselors used a detailed grid of each senior鈥檚 schedule to quickly grab students from class when a department staffer came on the line. For parents with limited English skills, they held practice sessions prior to calls. Now, all 91 students going to four-year schools have received aid packages.

Some counselors and higher education officials say they鈥檙e beginning to see the streamlined FAFSA鈥檚 potential.

鈥淚 feel a lot better about where we鈥檙e at than I did a few weeks ago,鈥� said Karen Krause, the executive director of financial aid at the University of Texas at Arlington. The FAFSA completion rate is up 4% compared to last year, bucking and national trends, and the staff was able to begin distributing aid offers in April 鈥� ahead of many other . 鈥淚 do think it’s going to be a better process for students and families.鈥�

When FAFSA works, it works quickly 鈥� sometimes in less than 10 minutes. Students and parents who have submitted the forms, she said, keep asking, 鈥淚s that all?鈥� The education department also kept to conduct fewer reviews of students鈥� forms. At UT Arlington, that number dropped dramatically, from over 5,300 last year to under 200, Krause said. 

At the same time, her staff is grappling with a new setback 鈥� a backlog of corrections the department . Those revisions ultimately affect how much money colleges can offer students, especially those whose financial circumstances changed since they first applied.

鈥淪ay a family member loses a job or there are medical expenses,鈥� explained Jill Desjean, director of policy analysis at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. In those cases, schools might issue a new offer to make tuition more affordable, but those figures won鈥檛 be official until the education department approves them. 

Currently, colleges can only one at a time.

鈥淚t’s manual and it’s way more work,鈥� Desjean said. 

But they can鈥檛 submit them in bulk until next month, a time when students are usually preparing to register for classes and move into dorms. 

鈥楢nswers for kids鈥� 

If higher education officials feel any sense of relief after such a stormy season, it鈥檚 partly because of their own work to ensure families don鈥檛 pay the price for FAFSA鈥檚 botched implementation. UT Arlington, for one, has waived late fees for students still waiting on federal aid and isn鈥檛 dropping them from summer classes if they can鈥檛 make tuition payments, Krause said.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency over FAFSA, allowing students to apply for state aid without completing the federal form. The move made 17,000 students eligible for merit- or need-based aid, according to a state higher education commission.

And at the University of Florida, Mary Parker, vice president for enrollment management, created a special that offers low-income students up to $15,000 to tide them over until their federal aid comes through. If they end up qualifying for less federal aid than the scholarship covers, they won鈥檛 have to make up the difference.

That short-term fix impressed one university official who understands the strain on families with first-time college students.

鈥淚t will not be perfect, but [Parker] had enough in her budget to eat the cost of the margin of error. It was more important to prioritize first-generation students,鈥� said Penny Schwinn, the former Tennessee education commissioner who now serves as vice president for the university鈥檚 鈥減re-K to pre-bachelors鈥� initiatives. 鈥淜-12 and states are wrestling with this, and it was a really proud moment to see my colleague find innovative and immediate answers for kids.鈥�

But colleges are taking risks when they use their own funds to lower tuition costs for students, said Desjean, with the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

鈥淣ot all schools can afford to front their own money while waiting for the federal dollars,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 great to see that those who are able are doing what they can to minimize harm to students.鈥�

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