Mississippi Today

The new FAFSA was supposed to be easier to use. Technical glitches have made it anything but.

Published

10 months ago

February 26, 2024

Tayler Monts wasted no time filling out her financial aid form for college. The senior at KIPP High School in Camden, New Jersey, plans to be the first person in her family to pursue a higher education. She got started on the latest Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) shortly after its Dec. 30 online debut.

But she was confused by a question on the form, phrased as a double negative, she said. “I couldn’t go back in to fix it, even though on the website it says that I should theoretically be able to edit it.” She’s tried calling the Federal Student Aid hotline for help to no avail. “The lines are busy, so I’ve never gotten through.”

The new and shorter FAFSA was supposed to be easier to use. In fact, nearly 4 million people have submitted the 2024-’25 form since it became available, according to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “And many are getting through those forms in record time,” he said Feb. 12 during a press call. For others, the opposite is true. Technical issues have prevented families from revising, completing or submitting the application. Students whose parents lack Social Security numbers are a key group of applicants unable to finish the form because of a system glitch.

A $1.8 billion error in the formula that specifies how much aid students get also caused confusion because it didn’t account for inflation. This led to some students who qualify for financial assistance reportedly being told they did not. The Department of Education has since fixed that problem, but other hiccups remain, leading to fears that colleges won’t be able to process families’ financial data until shortly before the May 1 deadline students generally have to commit to a college. The snafus could see students choosing colleges without knowing the financial assistance they might receive or putting off college because they refuse to take that risk or have lost patience with the process entirely, experts contend.

“It’s a huge problem,” said Wil Del Pilar, senior vice president of the Education Trust, which advocates for students, especially those of color or with low incomes, to achieve academic excellence. “It’s going to create equity issues, especially for those students who are the most dependent on financial aid, and we know that low-income students and students of color depend more on financial aid to finance their college education. If you don’t know before you have to make a deposit to an institution if you’re going to have enough aid to go, why would you do that? I’m concerned that it’s going to significantly impact the college-going decisions that students are making.”

Each year, roughly 17 million students use the FAFSA — most of whom are young women. During the 2021-’22 cycle, just over 11 million women students applied for aid using the form, compared with about 6.5 million men. Del Pilar fears that vulnerable students might decide to take a year off from college because of FAFSA difficulties, noting that many who paused their higher education when the COVID-19 pandemic began never returned. He doesn’t want to see a repeat of that trend.

Del Pilar, also a former financial aid counselor at Loyola Marymount University, said colleges can’t even begin putting a student’s financial aid award letter together until they receive the applicant’s financial data from the federal government. Colleges, he added, are desperately waiting to get that information, as are scholarship organizations such as Native Forward Scholars Fund.

“One of the main documents we use to verify [student] need is the FAFSA form,” said Angelique Albert, CEO of Native Forward, which provides scholarships to Native American students. “That will show any awards that they’ve gotten from the federal government. It will show the expected family contributions, and then it will show what is left for them to be able to go to college. So what is their unmet need to go to that particular school — we fund based on that document.”

Errors on the FAFSA or processing delays may restrict the scale of the scholarship a student receives from Native Forward, Albert said. There’s also the matter of the tremendous mental health strain put on students whose futures are often riding on these financial aid outcomes.

These students “feel a lot of anxiety,” explained Destiny Bingham, a counselor at KIPP High School in Camden with a caseload of 75 students applying for college, including Monts. “‘What’s going to happen with my future?’” Bingham said they ask. “And I have those concerns, too, because I’ve been working with these students for four years now. We’ve been having these conversations for a long time, and it just looks like the students who are most in need of these resources, who are the reason that FAFSA exists, are unable to benefit from it.”

Monts, who wants to study computer engineering and enroll in a technical college, said she’s contemplating attending two schools. One is better than the other, she said, but she won’t be able to make a decision until the colleges present her with financial aid award letters based on her FAFSA.

“I want to go to the better school, but the better school is more expensive,” Monts said. “Not knowing how much FAFSA is willing to give me kind of affects that because I don’t want to be in debt for the rest of my life.”

In response to the mounting criticisms about the FAFSA rollout, Department of Education officials announced both this week and last that it is taking steps to ensure colleges obtain and process student financial data as soon as possible. Those steps include the launch of the FAFSA College Support Strategy whereby the agency is deploying federal personnel to support high-needs institutions such as tribal colleges and historically Black colleges and universities.

“We’re setting up a concierge service,” Cardona said Monday. “We’re allocating $50 million in funding for technical assistance and support, and we’re releasing tools to help institutions by February 16. We will be releasing test versions of student records so that every college can make sure their systems are ready.”

To speed up the financial aid application process, the Department of Education announced Feb. 13 that an IRS data exchange will allow it to obtain families’ income information from tax records. This will eliminate the need for families to hand over sensitive documentation that requires verification, and the move may especially benefit applicants with undocumented immigrant parents who don’t have Social Security numbers or want to avoid submitting information that would reveal their immigration status. Annually, undocumented immigrants pay an estimated $12 billion in taxes.

Despite steps to make the FAFSA process “less cumbersome for families,” as Cardona said, it is unclear when other wrinkles in the rollout of the new form will be ironed out. A department spokesperson on Feb. 12 said that the agency did not receive the funding it needs from Congress to hire additional customer service personnel to walk students and their families through FAFSA snags. Additionally, a spokesperson said the department could not pinpoint when applicants whose parents don’t have Social Security numbers will be able to complete the document. The official did confirm with The 19th that students in that predicament may fill out a paper FAFSA.

“Our hope is to make the online form available to all families, including parents without Social Security numbers, in the coming weeks,” the official said. “Although the paper form is an option for families now, waiting for the online form is another alternative that could be easier for many families.”

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form for the school year from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

Since paper applications are reportedly processed after their digital counterparts, some experts say that completing the FAFSA virtually is still the best option. But simply connecting to the internet is often a challenge for Native Forward scholars, Albert said. Many live in rural communities without broadband access, so the organization makes special arrangements for them to complete their financial aid forms online.

“They’re not even able to do it from their phone because they don’t have that access,” Albert said. “We have the student emergency fund, and from that fund, we’ve paid for scholars to have gas money to travel into cities so that they could have access to the internet. That is a problem in some of our communities. I think that’s something that we need to address on a broader scale.”

Shavar Jeffries, CEO of the KIPP Foundation, which trains educators to teach in its national network of public charter schools, said that students and their families don’t have a moment to lose when it comes to the FAFSA, the newest version of which came out months later than standard. Typically, the FAFSA for the upcoming academic year is available Oct. 1. Given the delays and the rollout difficulties, Jeffries would like the government to get applicants the information they need promptly. Since many KIPP students are from economically disadvantaged communities and among the first members of their family to go to college, he doesn’t want them to face additional barriers.

“Every day that there is a delay, it definitely increases the risk that some number of young people who can attend and graduate from college won’t be able to do so,” he said.

On Feb. 12, education leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as 106 of their colleagues, urged Cardona to address the issues with the new FAFSA in a letter led by Sens. Bernie Sanders and Patty Murray and Rep. Bobby Scott. Sanders chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and Scott is a ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. The lawmakers asked the Education Department to clarify how it will inform the public of further delays in FAFSA processing and to provide clear timelines about its plans so families can make the best decisions about higher education for their children.

The updates to the FAFSA are expected to help an additional 610,000 students qualify for a federal Pell grant, and another 1.5 million students qualify for the maximum Pell award, the lawmakers noted. But they also pointed out that the problems with the 2024-’25 FAFSA rollout stem largely from the fact that the Department of Education didn’t receive sufficient funding to release a new form after Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in 2020 to ease the process for millions of applicants.

“The federal government wanted to make the FAFSA form more simple because it can be a bit convoluted at times — and to make it easier for families to fill out and to make it easier for higher education institutions to provide accurate, clear information to families about financial aid awards,” Jeffries said. “That was very well intended. Unfortunately, the execution of those intentions hasn’t been ideal.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Up Next

Podcast: Inside the Medicaid expansion debate at the Capitol

Don't Miss

Education groups urge lawmakers to keep objective formula in place for school funding

Mississippi Today

On this day in 1911

Published

22 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-12-21 07:00:00

Dec. 21, 1911

A colorized photograph of Josh Gibson, who was playing with the Homestead Grays Credit: Wikipedia

Josh Gibson, the Negro League’s “Home Run King,” was born in Buena Vista, Georgia.

When the family’s farm suffered, they moved to Pittsburgh, and Gibson tried baseball at age 16. He eventually played for a semi-pro team in Pittsburgh and became known for his towering home runs.

He was watching the Homestead Grays play on July 25, 1930, when the catcher injured his hand. Team members called for Gibson, sitting in the stands, to join them. He was such a talented catcher that base runners were more reluctant to steal. He hit the baseball so hard and so far (580 feet once at Yankee Stadium) that he became the second-highest paid player in the Negro Leagues behind Satchel Paige, with both of them entering the National Baseball Hame of Fame.

The Hall estimated that Gibson hit nearly 800 homers in his 17-year career and had a lifetime batting average of .359. Gibson was portrayed in the 1996 TV movie, “Soul of the Game,” by Mykelti Williamson. Blair Underwood played Jackie Robinson, Delroy Lindo portrayed Satchel Paige, and Harvey Williams played “Cat” Mays, the father of the legendary Willie Mays.

Gibson has now been honored with a statue outside the Washington Nationals’ ballpark.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi Today

On this day in 1958

Published

2 days ago

December 20, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-12-20 07:00:00

Dec. 20, 1958

Bruce Boynton played a key role in the U.S. Supreme Court case that led to the Freedom Riders protests of 1961. Credit: Jay Reeves/Associated Press

Bruce Boynton was heading home on a Trailways bus when he arrived in Richmond, Virginia, at about 8 p.m. The 21-year-old student at Howard University School of Law — whose parents, Amelia Boynton Robinson and Sam Boynton, were at the forefront of the push for equal voting rights in Selma — headed for the restaurant inside the bus terminal.

The “Black” section looked “very unsanitary,” with water on the floor. The “white” section looked “clinically clean,” so he sat down and asked a waitress for a cheeseburger and a tea. She asked him to move to the “Black” section. An assistant manager followed, poking his finger in his face and hurling a racial epithet. Then an officer handcuffed him, arresting him for trespassing.

Boynton spent the night in jail and was fined $10, but the law student wouldn’t let it go. Knowing the law, he appealed, saying the “white” section in the bus terminal’s restaurant violated the Interstate Commerce Act. Two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed. “Interstate passengers have to eat, and they have a right to expect that this essential transportation food service,” Justice Hugo Black wrote, “would be rendered without discrimination prohibited by the Interstate Commerce Act.”

A year later, dozens of Freedom Riders rode on buses through the South, testing the law. In 1965, Boynton’s mother was beaten unconscious on the day known as “Bloody Sunday,” where law enforcement officials beat those marching across the Selma bridge in Alabama. The photograph of Bruce Boynton holding his mother after her beating went around the world, inspiring changes in voting rights laws.

He worked the rest of his life as a civil rights attorney and died in 2020.

.wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .entry-title {
font-size: 1.2em;
}
.wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles .entry-meta {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: wrap;
align-items: center;
margin-top: 0.5em;
}
.wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .entry-meta {
font-size: 0.8em;
}
.wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .avatar {
height: 25px;
width: 25px;
}
.wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles .post-thumbnail{
margin: 0;
margin-bottom: 0.25em;
}
.wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles .post-thumbnail img {
height: auto;
width: 100%;
}
.wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles .post-thumbnail figcaption {
margin-bottom: 0.5em;
}
.wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles p {
margin: 0.5em 0;
}

.wpnbha.ts-3 .entry-title{font-size: 1em}.wpnbha.ts-3 article .newspack-post-subtitle, .wpnbha.ts-3 article .entry-wrapper p, .wpnbha.ts-3 article .entry-wrapper .more-link, .wpnbha.ts-3 article .entry-meta {font-size: 0.8em;}

‘Something to be proud of’: Dual-credit students in Mississippi go to college at nation’s highest rate

Published

2 days ago

December 20, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Molly Minta – 2024-12-20 06:00:00

Mississippi high school students who take dual-credit courses go to college at the nation’s highest rate, according to a recent report.

It’s generally true that students who take college classes while in high school attend college at higher rates than their peers. Earlier this year, a study from the Community College Research Center at Teacher’s College, Columbia University found that nationally, 81% of dual-credit students go to college.

In Mississippi, that number shoots up to 93%, meaning the vast majority of the state’s high school students who take college classes enroll in a two- or four-year university.

“When we did this ranking, boom, right to the top it went,” said John Fink, a senior research associate and program lead at the research center who co-authored the study.

State officials say there’s likely no silver bullet for the high rate at which Mississippi’s dual-credit students enroll in college. Here, “dual credit” means a course that students can take for both high school and college credit. It’s different from “dual enrollment,” which refers to a high school student who is also enrolled at a community college.

In the last 10 years, participation in these programs has virtually exploded among Mississippi high school students. In 2014, about 5,900 students took dual-credit courses in Mississippi, according to the Mississippi Community College Board.

Now, it’s more than 18,000.

“It reduces time to completion on the post-secondary level,” said Kell Smith, Mississippi C0mmunity College Board’s executive director. “It potentially reduces debt because students are taking classes at the community college while they’re still in high school, and it also just exposes high school students to what post-secondary course work is like.”

“It’s something to be proud of,” he added.

There are numerous reasons why Mississippi’s dual-credit courses have been attracting more and more students and helping them enroll in college at the nation’s highest rate, officials say.

With a few college credits under their belt, students may be more inspired to go for a college degree since it’s closer in reach. Dual-credit courses can also build confidence in students who were on the fence about college without requiring them to take a high-stakes test in the spring. And the Mississippi Department of Education’s accountability model ensures that school districts are offering advanced courses like dual credit.

Plus, Mississippi’s 15 community colleges reach more corners of the state, meaning districts that may not be able to offer Advanced Placement courses can likely partner with a nearby community college.

“They’re sometimes like the only provider in many communities, and they’re oftentimes the most affordable providers,” Fink said.

Test score requirements can pose a barrier to students who want to take dual-credit courses, but that may be less of a factor in Mississippi. While the state requires students to score a 19 on ACT Math to take certain courses, which is above the state average, a 17 on the ACT Reading, below the state average of 17.9, is enough for other courses.

Transportation is another barrier that many high schools have eliminated by offering dual-credit courses on their campuses, making it so students don’t have to commute to the community colleges to take classes.

“They can leave one classroom, go next door, and they’re sitting in a college class,” said Wendy Clemons, the Mississippi Department of Education’s associate state superintendent for secondary education.

This also means high school counselors can work directly with dual-credit students to encourage them to pursue some form of college.

“It is much less difficult to graduate and not go to college when you already possess 12 hours of credit,” Clemons said.

Word-of-mouth is just as key.

“First of all, I think parents and community members know more about it,” Clemons said, “They have almost come to expect it, in a way.”

This all translates to benefits to students. Students who take dual-credit courses are more likely to finish college on time. They can save on student debt.

But not all Mississippi students are benefiting equally, Fink said. Thr research center’s report found that Black students in Mississippi and across the country were less likely to pursue dual-credit opportunities.

“The challenge like we see in essentially every state is that who’s in dual enrollment is not really reflective of who’s in high school,” Fink said.

Without more study, it’s hard to say specifically why this disparity exists in Mississippi, but Fink said research has generally shown it stems from elitist beliefs about who qualifies for dual-credit courses. Test score requirements can be another factor, along with underresourced school districts.

“The conventional thinking is (that) dual enrollment is just … another gifted-and-talented program?” Fink said. “It has all this baggage that is racialized … versus, are we thinking about these as opportunities for any high school student?”

Another factor may be the cost of dual-credit courses, which is not uniform throughout the state. Depending on where they live, some students may pay more for dual-credit courses depending on the agreements their school districts have struck with local community colleges and universities.

This isn’t just an equity issue for students — it affects the institutions, too.

“You know, we’ve seen that dual-credit at the community college level can be a double-edged sword,” Smith said. “We lose students who oftentimes … want to stay as long as they can, but there are only so many hours they can take at a community college.

Dual-credit courses, which are often offered at a free or reduced price, can also result in less revenue to the college.

“Dual credit does come at a financial price for some community colleges, because of the deeply discounted rates that they offer it,” Smith said. “The more students that you have taking dual-credit courses, the more the colleges can lose.”

State officials are also working to turn the double-edged sword into a win-win for students and institutions.

One promising direction is career-technical education. Right now, the vast majority of dual credit students enroll in academic courses, such as general education classes like Composition 1 or 2 that they will need for any kind of college degree.

“CTE is far more expensive to teach,” Clemons said.

Smith hopes that state officials can work to offer more dual-credit career-technical classes.

“If a student knows they want to enroll in career-tech in one of our community colleges, let’s load them up,” Smith said. “Those students are more likely to enter the workforce quicker. If you want to take the career-tech path, that’s your ultimate goal.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.