Schools can't process 2024-2025 FAFSA data - system incompatibility crisis

Yes, this is happening at multiple schools. My son's college financial aid office sent a similar email yesterday. They explained that the Department of Education's new FAFSA system is sending data in a format that most college financial aid management software can't properly import. It's a technical issue between the federal system and the various software platforms schools use to process aid. They estimated at least a 3-week delay beyond their normal timeline for financial aid packages.

my brothers school told us the same thing yesterday. said they got the data but its all messed up or something. he applied to 5 places and none of them have aid packages yet. were freaking out bc we need to know what we qualify for!!

I work in financial aid at a community college, and I can confirm this is a nationwide issue. The Department of Education made significant changes to the FAFSA for 2024-2025, including how they calculate the Student Aid Index (SAI) and what information gets sent to schools. However, the data is coming to schools in a completely different format than previous years, and most institutions' software systems weren't adequately prepared for these changes despite months of preparation. My recommendation: 1) Contact your schools and ask about extended decision deadlines 2) Request preliminary aid estimates based on your prior year information 3) Check if schools are creating stopgap solutions like institutional aid advances The Department of Education is aware of the issue but hasn't provided a timeline for resolution yet.

My kids financial aid office said same thing!! They can't do anything with the FAFSA data and have NO IDEA when this will be resolved. Meanwhile kids are supposed to be making decisions?? What a joke the whole system is. And they wonder why people don't trust the government to run anything properly.

This is definitely a widespread issue affecting most institutions. I've been tracking this closely since I work with several college-bound students. Here's what we know: - The Department of Education made major changes to the FAFSA for 2024-2025 - The rollout was delayed from October to December, then had technical issues into January - Schools started receiving data in March in a new format - Most schools' software systems can't properly import/process the new format - The software companies are working on updates but timeline is unclear Many colleges are announcing extended decision deadlines (May 15 or even June 1 instead of May 1). I suggest reaching out directly to each school's financial aid office to ask about their specific situation and timeline.

I've been trying to call Federal Student Aid for THREE DAYS to ask about this and keep getting disconnected after waiting 2+ hours each time. This is ridiculous! My daughter has offers from 4 colleges and no financial aid packages from any of them. How are families supposed to make decisions?

Update from our situation: my son's top choice school just emailed saying they're creating temporary estimated aid packages based on the old formula + info we submitted directly to them. Not ideal but at least gives us something to work with. They're also extending their decision deadline to June 1st. Might be worth asking if your daughter's schools are doing something similar.

this is so unfair to students!!! how r we supposed to know where to go when we dont know what we can afford?? my brothers stressed out of his mind

Just an update from the financial aid office perspective - we received guidance from the Department of Education yesterday that they're working with major software providers on an emergency patch to allow proper data importing. They're estimating 2-3 weeks before it's implemented. In the meantime, most schools are: 1) Extending decision deadlines 2) Creating estimated packages based on prior methodologies 3) Allowing provisional enrollment with final aid packages to come later This is definitely a system-wide failure that's affecting every school in the country. I've been in financial aid for 15 years and have never seen a rollout this problematic.

For those facing May 1st decision deadlines, I've compiled a spreadsheet of colleges that have officially announced extensions: https://bit.ly/FAFSAextensions2024 Currently tracking 137 schools that have pushed their deadlines to mid-May or later. I'm updating it daily as new announcements come in. Feel free to share this resource with others in the same situation.

Is anyone else thinking about contacting their representatives in Congress about this? I emailed both my senators yesterday. This is a government-created disaster and they need to be held accountable!

Has anyone heard if this will affect current college students too? My son is already enrolled and relies on his financial aid package for sophomore year. Will this delay his fall aid disbursement??

UPDATE: Just got off the phone with my daughter's first-choice school. They're extending their decision deadline to June 1st and are creating estimated aid packages based on our CSS Profile and tax info we submitted directly. They hope to have those out next week, with final packages once the FAFSA data issue is resolved. They also said they're establishing an emergency grant fund for students who commit without full aid info and then discover a gap once official packages come through. I'm still frustrated with the whole situation, but at least schools seem to be trying to adapt.