The Department of Education said Friday that it has identified a calculation error impacting several hundred thousand financial aid forms. The mistake could further delay students’ aid awards and, as a result, their decisions on where to go to college next year, financial aid experts warn.
The new problem adds further complications to the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) process this year, which has been marked with delays and glitches after a long-awaited, updated version of the financial aid form was released.
Typically, colleges send financial aid award letters to students in March and request a decision by May 1 on whether they plan to enroll the following fall. Many colleges – but not all – have already delayed this timeline due to the problems with the FAFSA.
The Department of Education’s new mistake resulted in incorrect financial need information, known as Institutional Student Information Records, or ISIRs, being sent from the government to colleges. The error impacts ISIRs sent to schools prior to March 21, and the issue has been resolved for information sent on and after that date, the Department of Education said.
The vast majority of the 1.5 million ISIRs delivered to colleges so far were not affected. The Department of Education has provided workaround instructions for colleges so that they can still process the impacted ISIRs to generate tentative aid packages for students.
“This is another unforced error that will likely cause more processing delays for students,” Justin Draeger, CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, said in a statement.
“At this stage in the game and after so many delays, every error adds up and will be felt acutely by every student who is counting on need-based financial aid to make their postsecondary dreams a reality,” he added.
