After a long summer of technical glitches, most of America’s prospective college students finally applied for federal financial aid — an annual process upended by a redesign-gone-bad.
The number of high school seniors who have completed their Free Application for Federal Student Aid is down 9% compared with this time last year, according to the National College Attainment Network. That number was as high as 40% in the spring, when students usually must submit their forms to give schools enough time to assemble an aid package.
How much the FAFSA problems will impact the number of students attending college remains to be seen, counselors and advisers say. But the delays certainly have changed where students enrolled, with many students forced to pick a college with limited information about their financial picture.
