The Department of Education announced Jan. 30 a nationwide delay in providing data that allows universities to calculate financial aid for students.
The Department of Education announced Jan. 30 a nationwide delay in providing data that allows universities to calculate financial aid for students.
The postponement of the data release from January until March means Loyola will be unable to send students FAFSA, or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, award notifications until April.
Tobyn Friar, assistant vice president and director of financial aid at Loyola’s Financial Aid Office, said the first group of students to receive their award notifications will ideally be awarded in early April, but the current plan is to keep the enrollment deposit deadline of May 1.
The FAFSA application was redesigned for the 2024-25 school year to comply with a pair of laws meant to adjust aid calculation, The Phoenix previously reported. The changes include adjustments to the methodology for calculating Income Protection Allowance, which is a variable in student need levels, but the new application didn’t reflect these changes, according to Friar.
The oversight caused the Department of Education to send out inaccurate Institutional Student Information Record data in January, which is provided to universities so they can calculate financial aid eligibility for each student, according to Friar.
Friar said the Department of Education decided the delay was needed to recalculate Institutional Student Information Records and fix its methodology, a move he said is necessary but unfortunate.
“On the one hand, it’s good that institutions didn’t get incorrect information and that we weren’t sending out awards to students that were not accurate and then having to repackage them with the correct information,” Friar said. “That would’ve created a lot of confusion. So on the one hand, that’s a positive. But on the other, it just delayed everything now significantly.”
On a typical schedule, the first award notifications would be issued to prospective students in early January, giving them about four months to make their decision compared to the two or three weeks students are now expected to have to decide, according to Friar.
“And that’s assuming that that student gets an award notification from all of the other schools they’re applying to right at the same time,” Friar said.
Friar said the reduced timeframe means the Financial Aid Office has had to decide which groups of students to prioritize in processing and sending out award packages. He said the current plan is to begin with prospective students including both first-years and transfers, followed by new medical and law students, then new graduate and business students, and then returning students.
The decision to process award packages for prospective students first is based on the limitations of the May 1 deadline combined with the fact that they’re also waiting for notifications from other institutions to make their decision, according to Friar.
New medical and law students have a different payment process from undergraduate students but are being prioritized because they still need to make seed deposits for their enrollment, according to Friar.
The Financial Aid Office’s goal is for the first two groups to have their award notifications sent by the end of April, but returning undergraduate and graduate students may not have their notifications until late May or early June, according to Friar.
Students on a monthly payment plan are also impacted because they may not have the option of making the lowest possible payment for their first installment without aid, which is another factor the Financial Aid Office is thinking through in its response to the delays, according to Friar.
Friar said he encourages returning students to apply for additional aid beginning Feb. 15 using the Loyola Scholarship Connection portal, which is internal to Loyola and therefore unaffected by the delay. Prospective students don’t have access to the portal but Friar said they’re encouraged to contact the Financial Aid Office to learn about outside scholarship and loan resources.
Students enrolling in summer courses are billed April 15, so the Financial Aid Office will work to ensure their aid for the summer semester is awarded before the deadline, according to Friar.
India Jackson, a third-year, said the delay is making her reconsider her plans to enroll in a summer course because she depends on FAFSA to help her afford her education.
“I was supposed to do a summer semester this year,” Jackson said. “With the delay, I don’t know if the financial aid will disburse in time, so now I have to find new options.”
Friar said he shares the disappointment families are experiencing as a result of the delays.
“We are frustrated because this really has a direct impact on our students, and it is completely out of our control,” Friar said. “All of it is completely out of our control. So we will navigate the best we can, we will work diligently to try and get things out as quickly as possible, and that’s all we can do.”
Students who want a rough estimate of their financial aid before April can also use Loyola’s online Net Price Calculator, which is being updated to align with the Department of Education’s methodology in the next few weeks to provide the most accurate number possible, according to Friar.
First-year Zaid Khan said the delay is a source of stress and anxiety which can distract from schoolwork, especially since Loyola’s high tuition means many students are dependent on financial aid.
“The main thing I want to focus on is academics,” Khan said. “So obviously if I have to worry about something like tuition just to be able to focus on my education, I think that just puts on a lot of pressure.”
Inquiries on the delays to several other people in the Financial Aid, Bursar’s and Undergraduate Admissions offices were redirected to Friar or didn’t receive a response.
Featured image by D’Niya Little-Segers / The Phoenix
