FAFSA delays have complicated course registration for students and staff as the semester kicked off.
Students struggling to pay for classes were directed to financial aid, starting with filling out the FAFSA forms online. The process left some students to scramble and find other means of paying for college. Ongoing issues with the timely release and ease of use of the application have made it difficult.
Kade Koiner, who was trying to register for classes on NE, was left to sit out this semester because of technical difficulties
with the parental signature, which would not go through the system. Koiner, a dependent, said the application process and communication with the U.S. Department of Education and TCC financial aid were long and drawn out.
I spoke. I waited on hold with FAFSA for like, 30 minutes to speak to a real person,” Koiner said. “And all she could tell me was that I needed to talk to the school and that there was really nothing she could do about it, and that I needed to either delete my whole entire FAFSA form and start completely over or wait until it got processed and there’s no way to delete my FAFSA form.”
Koiner continued to call officials for three months, eventually filing a complaint. “They didn’t process the complaint until way after the deadline,” Koiner said. “That doesn’t help me because I can’t put in my FAFSA.”
Some students did not receive their FAFSA authorization or award letter until after the tuition deadline, causing lines at financial aid offices. One student had to take out loans to pay for living expenses and educational equipment.
“You know, normally it’s seven to 10 days to receive your financial aid,” said NE student Amy McIntyre. “I didn’t actually
get it until maybe just a couple of days before classes started, and you know, I had to communicate with not just one department, financial aid, business services office, separate and then together, I actually brought them in together on an email.”
She shared that the financial aid process caused significant emotional and mental stress. The delay in opening the applications to students was not a surprise. But what caught the financial aid department off guard was that once it was available, the application was not ready for students to complete.
“It still needed an entire rewrite of our entire system,” district financial aid director Samantha Stalnaker said. “So here, we’re getting incomplete information, wrong information, we’re rewriting our whole system, and we’re trying to get everything out. So yes, it has been extremely frustrating for students and for us to not be able to tell students because we’re used to saying, ‘Hey, we can fix that for you.’”
Stalnaker said even with all the problems with FAFSA, more financial aid has been given out to students this year than ever before.
Scholarships are awarded in conjunction with financial aid, with some scholarships having need-based components. The application process, integrated with financial aid, explains that students automatically enter the scholarship pool by filling out the FAFSA.
District officials said they are working to improve communication and accuracy in the FAFSA process and that students should reach out to their financial aid offices for help.
The scholarship application opens on March 1, 2025, and the application closes on May 1.
