Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - With college decision deadlines looming, thousands of high school seniors have been in limbo for months due to the bungled rollout of the FAFSA, or federal student aid application.
May 1, just three weeks from now, is the traditional college acceptance deadline.
"I'm seeing a lot of colleges pushing that back to May 15," said college planner Jeff Boron with Buffalo based Send Your Kids To College.
"It's been a complete disaster this year. I'm not going to kid you," he said.
Colleges are still in disarray.
"I was working with a client yesterday and two of their colleges still haven't received the data. It's been transmitted through the system but it hasn't been transmitted out."
Boron said everything has been late or delayed. To make it worse, he said
people are questioning whether the data is valid.
"We've received some reports recently of FAFSA calculations being incorrect."
Just over a third of high school seniors had successfully submitted the FAFSA, as of late March, according to the National College Attainment Network. In a normal year, nearly half of seniors would have done so by now.
Completing the FAFSA application is how grants, scholarships, and subsidized loans are determined. It's vital information for students deciding whether they can attend college.
Congress passed legislation to simplify the form in 2020 but the rollout in December was riddled with technical glitches.
"I feel as though financial aid offices are completely overwhelmed because what is usually done in a few months is now going to be pushed into a few weeks," added Boron.
With May around the corner, he added, the clock is ticking for many students who are deciding whether they can attend college in the fall.