Maybe this? All info comes from the CDS…which at some points during the year are 2 cycles old (not that it makes the data unhelpful, but just something to be aware of.)
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Yes, it must have been that chart or certainly it was something similar. I remember feeling shocked to realize how close some schools came to “meeting need” for most students even if they weren’t technically getting there for all students. Of course, I realize realize that colleges and families do not always agree on what the accuracy of the “need” assessment and also some colleges are need aware for admissions, but at least the linked chart put some places into consideration when I would have otherwise have said my kid should not apply there at all.
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It wasn’t me, but it looks like @Mwfan1921 found what you were looking for. I have posted information that looks like this, however:
From the New York Times today.
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Clearly, this has been a debacle. However, the young woman who wants to go to Duke will be able to get a financial aid package, since Duke uses Profile (FAFSA is necessary, but a school like Duke can actually award aid while FAFSA is pending). There are many, many other students who are unable to get any idea about financial aid right now, though. I wish a student who wants to attend a non Profile school was highlighted, instead. And I do wish that at some point, the article was clear that this is a one time issue, and next year things should actually be easier than before the changes. Not mentioning that might cause future applicants to think that applying for aid is just too difficult. Yeah, I know I’m nitpicking. But there really is light at the end of the tunnel that is 2024-25 FAFSA rollout.
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I sure hope so. I have a lot of kids!
But to wax cynical… they’ve had four years to get it done. It’s certainly possible it’ll still be a mess next year.
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There are always bugs each year, but they are trivial compared to this year. I just hate to see the bad stuff highlighted without pointing out that this huge change is pretty much unprecedented. It will get better from here. I have talked to too many people who hesitate to complete the FAFSA because they think it’s too hard & that they won’t get any aid. Believe it or not, the last three people who said that they weren’t going to bother completing it because someone they knew said it isn’t worth bothering were actually Pell eligible. People get discouraged quickly, so there needs to be some positivity in the messaging to avoid the thought that college is completely out of reach.
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@kelsmom, what effect do you think the FAFSA debacle will have on struggling colleges?
Hard to know. I keep thinking about how I would have handled this situation in my last job. I definitely would have had to do things a bit differently, but I did have really good data that would have allowed me to pivot in a way that would have worked out. Data collection is so important, because it can allow a school to make predictions so that they can handle uncertainty. But the timeline for commitment is based on what the student’s other schools are doing, so I am sure that I would have been sweating enrollment!
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It seems at least possible that some schools will miscalculate, letting in more than they should, spending the summer addressing a housing crunch. Or that others might undershoot the mark, have lots of empty beds, and spend the summer offering discounts or other incentives to fill desks.
Always happens. Just seems like the time crunch might exacerbate those risks. I know that both of my kids, in a normal year, would already be committed. As it stands we don’t even know if they are going.
So I’m sure it’ll be a nerve wracking time for the schools.
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We have the same issue, we check regularly but I believe they said April 1st would be the first time we could change or add schools.
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Ever since we completed the FAFSA on January 4, we realized that we miscalculated finances slightly (put daughter’s checking under her when it should have gone under us, etc.) and that it submitted without her signature (the field was not working and we didn’t realize when the parent signed and submitted it would submit the whole thing).
We didn’t receive any updated from FAFSA but I see after logging in today it no longer says In Process but it shows as Processed with Corrections Needed.
The Correction they identified is that the student signature is missing. There is a button to Provide Signature but it is greyed out so we still can’t sign it. It also looks like it won’t allow us to further update the finances (we also wanted to add more colleges) or correct the form beyond that.
Does anyone know how to get around this yet? To make further corrections or even just submit the signature they identified that we need if the button isn’t functional? Do we just have to continue to try and be patient? This has been so frustrating and stressful. We are waiting on financial offers to make our final decisions. I’m starting to get nervous that she might graduate high school before all this happens!
Could you please explain this? If this is your daughter’s checking account, it goes with her assets, not the parent ones.
Unless something has changed…@kelsmom.
And if the money is your daughter’s money, it is supposed to be listed as her asset regardless of where it’s held. @BelknapPoint
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My understanding is if the bank statements come to me/reported as me for taxes (this was set up as a teenager so I am a user on the account as well), that it should be reported under me. If I am wrong about this, maybe that part doesn’t need a correction. It was only $100-200 so I’m sure it doesn’t make a major difference either way.
A student checking account is definitely listed as an asset of the student. The only exception to title dictating where it gets assigned is the rare situation where the student owns the 529. In those cases the parent is listed as the owner.
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I would never mess with amending a FAFSA over a $200 account in a billion years.
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Phew! Good to know. I guess we just need to submit the signature then and hopefully add another college or two. Will try and continue to be patient!
True.
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My understanding is no corrections allowed or schools to be added, etc. until April 1. Is that still correct @kelsmom?
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That is also my understanding. It’s confusing for the people who can now see that corrections are needed, but FSA isn’t ready yet to handle corrections. Hopefully, April 1st (and hopefully, the sheer volume of students who need to make corrections won’t crash the system).
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