by Jeniffer Solis, Nevada Current
The rollout of a new federal financial aid process for prospective college students has been plagued with tech issues and delays since its release in February, leading to fewer students completing aid applications this year — especially in Nevada.
Nevada currently has one of the lowest rates of graduating high school seniors who have submitted a Free Application for Federal Student Aid — better known as FAFSA — according to data from the National College Attainment Network. Only Florida, Arizona, Utah, and Alaska had lower percentages of students applying for federal aid..
About 33% of graduating high school seniors in Nevada have submitted a FAFSA application as of June 14, a significant decrease from the nearly 48% of Nevada students who completed the application last academic year.
For the Clark County School District — the largest school district in the state — nearly 2,000 fewer graduating high school seniors completed a FAFSA application compared to the last academic year. Among Washoe County School District graduating seniors, about 200 fewer did.
Rates of FAFSA completion for low-income and minority students across the state are even lower. An estimated 31% of low-income and minority graduating seniors in Nevada have submitted a FAFSA application so far this year, about 18% lower than the last academic year. The discrepancy has raised concerns that low-income students may not be able to afford higher education this fall, or may fall behind if they choose to postpone enrollment.
The FAFSA form is a key indicator for financial aid eligibility, which comes in the form of grants, loans, work-study funds and scholarships.
Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in late 2020. The new FAFSA application was sold as a more efficient process, but in practice has been marred with formula miscalculation and tax data errors that have pushed back college acceptance decisions, and led tens of thousands of students to skip it all together.
U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal is now urging students to give the new application process another try, saying the department has made a lot of progress in the past couple of months.
The federal agency has taken steps to address major issues that prevented parents without Social Security numbers from completing the form.
“We’re fixing things at a rapid pace, and we’ve been keeping the community updated. We have an issues guide on the website that lets people know the problems we’re aware of and what the potential solutions are. In almost every case now, there is a way for students to submit the form,” Kvaal told States Newsroom in an interview.
“It may be a customer service experience that is not what we originally designed, and so we’re gonna continue to try and make this process easier and faster for all students, including those whose parents may not have Social Security numbers, but it is possible now for everyone to submit a FAFSA,” Kvaal said.
He oversees higher education and financial aid, including the Office of Federal Student Aid, which is the largest student financial aid provider in the country.
Last week, the department said it has made “significant progress” in closing the gap in FAFSA submissions to an 8% decrease compared to this time last year, down from a nearly 40%decrease in March.
Kvaal said the department has already received more than 11 million FAFSA submissions for the 2024-25 school year.
“It’s still not perfect for all applicants”
Though the department has made progress to address major known issues, “the system, certainly six months after it opened, is still not a totally functioning system,” according to MorraLee Keller, senior director of strategic programming at the National College Attainment Network, a nonprofit membership and advocacy organization.
“Right now, the form is working for a lot of applicants, but it’s still not perfect for all applicants,” she added.
The organization monitors FAFSA completion for graduating high school seniors nationally and compares those figures to the previous school year. Keller said “one thing that we’re seeing is the class of ‘24, at this point in time, is almost 13 percentage points behind in the rate at which the seniors have filed a FAFSA” this past academic year.
“We are significantly behind in the number of FAFSAs, particularly for our graduating seniors, so that is ultimately probably going to have an impact in enrollment because completing a FAFSA is a pretty good indicator about whether you plan to enroll in college this fall,” Keller said.
Meanwhile, Kvaal said he thinks “it’s important to note that just about everybody can get their FAFSA through the process now.” He added that “there are some specific instructions that people in certain situations need to follow carefully” and encouraged applicants to pay careful attention to the instructions and help hints.
“The FAFSA is broadly available, and it’s not accurate to say that there are students who can’t get through them,” he said.
New strategy
In early May, the federal agency launched the FAFSA Student Support Strategy, which has now provided more than “$30 million in funding and counting and has reached more than 180 organizations across the country” in an attempt to get more students to complete the form, according to the department.
The department also recently announced that Jeremy Singer, current president of the College Board, would serve as the new FAFSA executive advisor.
In late May, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said the department has taken steps aimed at “modernizing” the Office of Federal Student Aid, including the department’s search for a new chief operating officer, per a news release. That person would replace Richard Cordray, who, in the midst of backlash and criticism toward the department over the botched rollout, said in April he would depart.
Part of the department’s efforts, according to Cardona, also include conducting a “full-scale review” of the Office of Federal Student Aid’s “current and historical organization, management, staffing, workflow structures, business processes, and operations” and hiring an independent consulting firm.
The department is also reviewing “contracts and acquisition procedures” in an effort to hold vendors accountable, Cardona said.
If I haven’t filled out the 2024-25 FAFSA form, what should I do?
Though students have until June 30, 2025, to complete the 2024-25 FAFSA form, deadlines vary based on individual colleges and states.
Kvaal encouraged anyone considering college this fall to visit Studentaid.gov and fill out the FAFSA as soon as possible.
“If you had been hearing that there were challenges with the form or people were encountering obstacles, we’ve made a lot of progress in making the form work in recent weeks, and most people, their form is getting through in one to three days, and we’re sending information to colleges that they need to make financial aid offers,” he said.
Keller also encouraged families to not give up on completing the form.
“The time is not gone — get your FAFSA filed this summer if you want to go to school this fall,” she said.
Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: [email protected]. Follow Nevada Current on Facebook and X.
