High school aiding students in handling the FAFSA rollout mishap.

One high school moves to assist students in managing the flawed FAFSA release.

In May, a father and his son sat with a high school counselor for over three hours, attempting to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Despite multiple tries, they couldn't resolve a technical glitch. This wasn't the student's first attempt either - he had spent time with his counselor since January trying to complete the form.

The dad had opted to take time off work for this, but it was all in vain. This instance is not unique; Counselor Vanessa Hlavacka at La Follette High School described feeling bad about the situation. In fact,

This FAFSA glitch is causing issuesto students across the US. With hundreds of colleges pushing back their deadlines, many are still left waiting for their financial aid information outside of these new dates. While the FAFSA problems have only added stress to an already frustrating process, there could be long-lasting impacts on low-income students' futures.

Approximately half as many seniors at La Follette High School have managed to submit the FAFSA compared to the previous year. The school has increased its support efforts for college-bound seniors; however, many continue to struggle with the FAFSA. It's alarming because these students may give up on college altogether or settle for a community college because they can't afford higher education without loans or grants.

The US Congress called for changes to the FAFSA, hoping to simplify it and increase the number of students eligible for financial aid. While the form is indeed more brief, this rollout has proven rocky. It wasn't even available until the end of last year, months later than usual.

There's a lot at stake - La Follette High School's student demographic consists of half low-income families and over a third who don't speak English as their first language. With these changes, there's a risk that students might abandon their pursuit of higher education if they can't secure federal aids.

Many schools have shifted deadlines, but not all have extended them past May 1. Braga, a co-coordinator of La Follette's college readiness program, suspects that this FAFSA fiasco will affect students' enrollment decisions.

To help students and their families through this process, the school has hosted multiple FAFSA workshops. However, the first didn't yield much success due to glitches. When they held another in April, ongoing problems persisted.

Families from mixed-status backgrounds face extra challenges as their children are eligible for federal aid despite their parents' immigration status. At first, these students couldn't even start the application. Then, a fix came through on April 30th to allow these parents without Social Security numbers to provide their information. However, given the timeframe, most still encountered issues.

The Department of Education responded by giving out $50 million in grants to organizations assisting with FAFSA applications in May. But some parents remain reluctant to continue filling out government forms after facing frustrations.

"I worry about these families' long-term implications and their ability to earn a living," said Hlavacka. "It's hard to continually 'affirm and reassure' them that it's safe and worthwhile when it's experiencing technical difficulties."

This year's reduced financial aid applications from La Follette students have worried staff. They fear students may choose not to enroll in fall colleges due to financial constraints.

"I don't think it's inevitable," Braga said of students' decisions being affected by the FAFSA fiasco. "But it's possible and we need to help them navigate this as best we can."

The current government led by Biden has experienced backlash from lawmakers in both the Republican and Democratic parties, as well as financial aid institutions, due to the troubled launch of the latest form. Members of Congress linked to the Republican Party have requested that the Government Accountability Office look into the method used to implement this new document. Threats have been made regarding whether the FAFSA issues will be addressed before the upcoming year.

Across the country, there has been a 17% decrease in high school graduating seniors who have completed the FAFSA compared to the previous student cohort at this same point in time, based on data from the National College Attainment Network. This decrease is more significant in low-income schools and institutions with a high proportion of students from minority backgrounds.

Students from La Follette High School have experienced this drop, but recently, they have had better luck filing the FAFSA.

Only a few days after the agonizing, three-hour meeting with a student and his father in Hlavacka's office, they were able to effectively submit the FAFSA.

Hlavacka stated, "All of a sudden, we were able to submit it. No issues. We are at a loss as to why."

The initial issue arose when the student invited his father to help fill out part of the form. Despite attempting multiple ways to send the virtual invitation, the father's account refused to grant access to the form. This glitch has affected several La Follette students.

Upon being able to submit it, Hlavacka expressed excitement and said, "I burst into tears when he was able to submit it. I was just so happy for him."