"FAFSA Overhaul Causes Major Delays in Financial Aid Processing"

Colleges are struggling to process student financial aid data due to repeated delays in the rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), with two-thirds of institutions expressing concerns about the tight timeline. The Education Department's admission of miscalculating data for hundreds of thousands of students has led to widespread fears about downstream effects for millions of students. The revamped FAFSA, while intended to make more low-income students eligible for aid, has faced technical problems and timing issues, causing a backlog of applications and eroding trust between colleges, students, and the federal government. Colleges are urging transparency from the Education Department to address potential hiccups and ease the burden on institutions and students.