The new FAFSA rollout has faced several obstacles and delays—what students and families can do

Since its rollout at the end of December, the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid has run into a number of speed bumps.

The soft launch of the application at the beginning of January was met with technological glitches that made it difficult for many students and their families to even access the FAFSA. And once those were mostly resolved, the Department of Education addressed an error that had the new financial aid calculation not accounting for inflation.

All of which has culminated in delayed financial aid packages for current and incoming college students.

To help alleviate some of the issues, ED announced this week it will deploy a "FAFSA College Support Strategy." The department will send resources, including funding and personnel, to college campuses to support financial aid administrators processing incoming FAFSA forms.

The financial aid process, however, is still delayed. The Department missed its initial estimate that it would begin sending FAFSA information to schools by mid-January and now says it will start sending that information in early March. That means students and their families may not know how much financial aid they're receiving for the upcoming school year until March at the earliest.

"Once [financial aid offices] get this information from the Department of Education in March, they'll be doing everything possible to get their financial aid offers out the door as quickly as possible," Jill Desjean, senior policy analyst at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, told CNBC Make It. 

"Students and families should keep in mind that, although the current circumstances are certainly stressful, everyone applying for financial aid is in the same situation."

File ASAP, then 'wait and see'

Though ED says over 3.1 million students have successfully completed FAFSA forms, some are still having trouble accessing the application. The department maintains a list of known issues applicants have encountered with the FAFSA and provides workaround instructions or updates on fixes. 

"If you're among the students who are still struggling to complete the FAFSA because of the unresolved bugs in the system, it's a good idea to document your attempts and let your financial aid office know why you can't submit the FAFSA so they know it's not a matter of you ignoring what needs to be done but, rather, an inability to do it," Desjean said.

Students who have filed their applications, however, have done pretty much all they can do at this point. 

"If you've already been able to submit your FAFSA, the wait-and-see approach is probably best," Desjean said in an email. "There isn't any information your school can provide until March when they start receiving that information from the Department of Education."

Desjean's organization, along with several others, have called on colleges to extend their enrollment and aid deadlines to help ensure students and their families can make the best decisions for their financial situations.

Some schools have already begun extending admission deadlines for incoming students from the traditional National College Decision Day on May 1. Oregon State University moved its admission deadline to June 1, for example. Widener University in Pennsylvania suspended its admissions deadline until further notice.

"Once FAFSAs arrive, [schools] still need to conduct systems testing and budget modeling before they can make financial aid decisions. So it will still be at least several weeks before they can start sending out financial aid offers to students," Desjean said. "Schools will presumably be prioritizing incoming student financial aid decisions, so continuing students might be waiting ever longer."

You'll want to check in with your institution to ensure you're aware of any upcoming deadlines and communicating any issues you're encountering.

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