Department of Education hopeful that FASFA delays are in the past
Nov 1, 2024, 7:00 PM
(Canva)
(Canva)
SALT LAKE CITY — The Department of Education is hoping that changes to FASFA will fix last fall’s chaotic rollout of the financial aid program.
Anyone who had filled out the FASFA forms in 2024 can tell you, it’s been a mess.
FASFA had not had a significant overhaul for decades; the new version rolled out last fall. Ironically, the changes to FASFA were intended to streamline the process. But for the 2024/25 school year, the application process was delayed by months.
It was chaotic for everyone, from the students to the schools. Many students did not notify the universities of their intent to attend until July, or even this past August.
But students and universities are hopeful that this year’s FAFSA enrollment process will be a lot smoother.
Craig Whyte, Executive Director of Student Financial Support at Utah State University, said he is hopeful that the process will be able to start sooner than last year’s January roll out.
“The delay of two months honestly isn’t significantly impacting current continuing students.” said Whyte. “It does create some challenges for current high school seniors, and that their window to apply is now narrowed down a couple of months.”
Whyte said he is making sure to encourage students to submit their FASA.
“For students looking to attend Utah State University in fall 2025, or any institution across Utah, please submit your FASA. It will open on December 1st or shortly thereafter,” said Whyte.
Beta testing FASFA
Whyte also said Utah State University is a beta-testing school for the rollout for the 2025/26 school year, and they will be sharing their data with other schools to help streamline the process for students across the state.
“The Department of Education has been doing so much beta testing right now. There’s four different beta-testing phases that occur in October and November and, fortunately, for Utah State University we were selected to be a Beta 3 tester.”
Being a beta-testing school also means some of their students will begin filling out their applications today.
