FAFSA issues still impacting Philadelphia-area seniors days from graduation; agency announces shakeup
DREXEL HILL, Pa. (CBS) — Sam Pierre, a senior at Monsignor Bonner Archbishop Prendergast High School in Drexel Hill, described an aggravating process: months of waiting for financial aid information from the federal government to be released to her prospective colleges.
"There was a lot," Pierre said in a frustrated laugh during an interview last week.
The mere reminder of the FAFSA fiasco is a trigger for this aspiring dentist who recalled a series of miscommunications and a seemingly endless waiting game.
"'Oh, you're going to get it this Friday,' and it's a Friday, and still didn't get it," she said. "'You'll get it Monday.' It's Monday where is it? It kept repeating and repeating all the time. It happened till I gave up a little bit."
The Dalys from Havertown had similar problems. Shannon is a senior at Cardinal O'Hara High School in Marple Township.
Trish Daly said her daughter's application was jammed up for months.
"From there it just became incessant emails reminding us we hadn't finished our paperwork," Trish Daly said, "though there was no way to make corrections and it continued on that path for months."
Changes to FAFSA lead to major delays
For so many high school seniors, FAFSA, which stands for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, exacerbated an already stressful time for college-bound students.
Here's what happened.
The U.S. Department of Education intended to streamline the application process, to make things simpler.
The rollout this past fall came with fewer questions, but immediately there was trouble.
Education Department officials acknowledged this new process at first didn't account for inflation. The mistake led to months and months of delays. The first delay moved the rollout to December. Then, it was ultimately pushed back to March.
That's five months behind schedule, meaning many students wouldn't get the information they need to pick a college until long after the typical decisions are made.
What's worse, with days left until graduation, an unknown number of students are still waiting to make a decision.
The Department of Education announced Thursday a shakeup at the FAFSA agency.
The Education Department announced a search for a new chief operating officer, an internal review and is now welcoming input from the inspector general and members of Congress.
"FAFSA numbers are down this year"
Kaitlyn Loeben, Monsignor Bonner Archbishop Prendergast's college and career adviser, said some seniors still haven't received their financial aid information. Federal data shows those most affected are lower-income applicants and first-generation college students who are often more dependent on financial aid.
"It's concerning, FAFSA numbers are down this year," Loeben said. "Disheartening. The college process is already so complicated and expensive and daunting, and this year just made it even more unattainable to those families who are really relying on the financial aid."
Liz Kennedy Walsh, a senior vice president overseeing enrollment management at Saint Joseph's University, said there are 185 applications still frozen in the school's pipeline. She said they can't process them because of paperwork errors primarily caused by glitches in the system.
Any other year, Kennedy Walsh said the number of problem applications would be under 10.
"So it's still chaotic," Kennedy Walsh said, "and families don't have what they need to make a decision."
Data suggests there will be fewer college enrollments in the fall because of the financial application nightmare.
"We are 10% down on FAFSA filers," Kennedy Walsh said. "So that's a lot of students and families who don't have the financial aid package they need to make a decision."
FAFSA fears resolved with days to spare
With only days to spare, Sam Pierre and Shannon Daly did receive some good news in the past two weeks.
Sam Pierre's financial aid package finally went through. She is on her way to Thomas Jefferson University in the fall.
"I cried. I felt tears coming down my eyes. I was so happy," Pierre said. "I looked at my friend, and she said, 'What was wrong?' and I said, 'I got my (financial aid) package.'"
Shannon Daly will be a St. Joe's Hawk.
Their fears were resolved.
"It was a great relief to have it all done," Trish Daly said.
What is Washington D.C. doing about the FAFSA "fiasco"?
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers launched hearings to inquire what went wrong.
In a statement to CBS News Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey said he remains concerned about those numbers that show a drop in applications, writing, "I urge the Department of Education to resolve these issues as soon as possible so Pennsylvania students who want to go to college have every opportunity to pursue it."
Kennedy Walsh at St. Joe's shared some words of wisdom for students still without their financial aid information.
"Don't give up. You can still apply, you can still fill out your FAFSA," she said. "Call the school you want to go to. They are waiting for your call."
CBS News Philadelphia reached out to the Department of Education in Washington. They did not respond to an email sent to the department's press account seeking comment for this report.