"FAFSA Data Delay Leaves College Students in Financial Limbo"
The Department of Education announced that colleges and universities will not receive students' financial aid applications until at least early March due to an error in calculating aid eligibility, causing delays for millions of college students. The delay stems from a new, simplified FAFSA form rollout and the failure to update tables used to calculate family eligibility based on inflation. This has left schools scrambling and financially vulnerable students at risk, with the inability to make corrections to their forms until March. The Department of Education stated that 3.1 million FAFSA forms have been successfully submitted since the redesigned application went live, and emphasized the importance of updating calculations to help more students qualify for financial aid.