The FAFSA for the 2024-25 academic year was filled with errors and caused delays to occur for applying students.
The Citrus’ director of financial aid, Stephen Fahey, sent out an email to Citrus students in April to discuss the 2024-25 FAFSA delays.
The email said, due to delays with the FAFSA, colleges had not been receiving students’ FAFSA forms and couldn’t determine or know what aid they would receive.
The email also said there has been a 33.8% drop in FAFSA forms completed in California compared to previous years.
The reason the FAFSA form was changed in the first place was to make the process shorter, easier and more convenient for students and families, as written in the FAFSA Simplification Act passed by Congress in 2021.
“It was actually easier than before, but still more confusing than I expected,” Citrus student Daniella Barajas said.
The FAFSA was first delayed from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023, cutting the time college students had to apply by a few months, due to the website not working properly, Fahey said.
When made public in December 2023, the FAFSA website would shut down, glitch and cause delays, Fahey said.
The Beta testing for the 2025-26 FAFSA began on Oct. 1 where the department will work to resolve system errors before the FAFSA form is officially open.
Different from previous years, but similar to last year’s, the 2025-26 FAFSA form will be released Dec. 1, 2024.
“Even though the new FAFSA should have been easier, it took me longer compared to previous years,” Citrus student Rae Green said.
The most problematic delay experienced by students was the confirmation needed by parents, Fahey said.
The most delays occurred around March and May, after which the school addressed this problem, Fahey said.
There have been multiple opinion pieces regarding the delay.
From the New York Times to Inside Higher Ed, many publications have detailed the personal experiences the FAFSA brought upon students and faculty.
The U.S. Department of Education promised an easily accessible online signature process; this failed and caused students to not complete the FAFSA, Fahey said.
The delays caused by the Department of Education impacted the financial aid rewarding system, causing students to be unable to have or view their financial aid awards, Fahey said.
The most impacted group of students are those who aren’t in contact with their parents, students whose parent(s) don’t have a social security number, and those who fall under low-income, Fahey said.
Citrus College’s financial aid department created resources for helping struggling students, such as workshops and having in-person or online help available, the email said.
In the summer, the financial aid office made sure students were informed they were open in person and online to help students via emails, Fahey said.
This resulted in the financial aid office seeing a large increase in students contacting the office, Fahey said.
In response to the delays, colleges nationwide have extended and pushed back their aid deadlines, U.S. News said.
For Citrus College students, the deadline had been extended to Sept. 3.
