In a significant shift from its earlier promise, the U.S. Department of Education will not be able to make bulk corrections to students’ federal-aid records for the 2024-25 financial aid cycle. This decision, announced Tuesday, deviates from a June statement that had promised such capabilities in early August, a delay itself from the usual schedule.
The revamp of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) has been fraught with delays, errors, and glitches that have disrupted the aid process since its initially-postponed launch in December. This latest complication could critically affect many students who are already struggling to secure financial aid as the fall semester approaches.
Beth Maglione, interim president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, criticized the department’s handling of the situation. “Once again, the Department of Education has failed to provide a key FAFSA deliverable when promised,” she said in a statement. “Some college students might not have financial-aid dollars in their hands in time to start classes in the next few weeks.”
The department’s inability to facilitate batch processing — where financial-aid officers can submit large volumes of FAFSA corrections efficiently — means that corrections must now be processed manually, which is a slower, more labor-intensive alternative. “It’s the difference between pushing a button,” Maglione said, “[and] making thousands of keystrokes.”
This change is expected to place additional burdens on financial aid offices, already stretched thin by the ongoing crisis in federal aid administration.
Furthermore, the Department of Education indicated that batch corrections would not resume until the 2025-26 aid cycle, without specifying an exact timeline. This decision is part of an overarching strategy to prioritize the development of a robust launch for next year’s FAFSA, potentially leaving current students in a precarious situation.
As the FAFSA saga continues, the focus remains sharply on the students most in need, whose educational futures are jeopardized by these administrative challenges. Many students rely on their financial aid disbursements to pay housing deposits, obtain needed supplies and materials, or cover the cost of basic necessities like groceries and transportation. Without these funds, their ability to remain enrolled is compromised.
