In late January, the U.S. Department of Education announced that colleges and universities would not acquire the Free Application for Federal Student Aid [FASFA] information from students until late March.

US News informed that “The result of the delays is most pronounced for vulnerable students, students who have need-based aid, students from low-income families or underserved schools. It has the potential to harm our vulnerable community members.”

This year, complications associated with FAFSA stalled it by several months. The FAFSA launch has been challenging, and institutions were earlier notified they would receive FAFSA applicant information by the end of January, hindering the delivery of financial aid offers to some students. With that date moved to March, delays will continue to plague the financial aid cycle in an already challenging year.

“Once the schools have received the FAFSA information, the student who completed their FAFSA online will receive an email that they can access their FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS) by logging in to studentaid.gov using their account username and password,” CCMR Advisor Cenee Precure said. “The FSS is a required document for the Windmill Scholarship application process and we encourage you to monitor this situation and any emails from the Department so you may upload this document through the scholarship portal as soon as possible.”

While waiting for FASFA to be sent to your colleges. Mrs.Precure gave some things all seniors can do. Such as Continuing to explore and apply for scholarships, checking your email and college portal to check for scholarships/awards to accept or decline offers, checking to make sure your college finally receives your FAFSA information (critical), Staying patient, may delay your decision about which college you are attending until you have your financial aid package.