Students still have time to fill out their FAFSA forms in Massachusetts, state education officials said at Tuesday’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education meeting, but should plan on doing so “as soon as possible” to navigate around the chaotic rollout of federal changes to the form.
“In Massachusetts I should say that this is a time probably more so than ever where there’s lots of financial aid available in the Commonwealth,” said Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler said at the Tuesday morning meeting. “And so we want to make sure that students can access that aid.”
The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education pushed back the priority deadline for the state’s largest financial aid program from May 1 to July 1, following the Biden administration’s recommendations for states. The extension allows students attending Massachusetts private and public higher education institutions more time to fill out the form to receive state financial aid through the MASSGrant program.
FAFSA applications have become incredibly complicated for families and schools this year with the disastrous rollout of federal changes to the form. The changes aimed to update the form and allow 600,000 more students to qualify for Pell Grants, but the new application was mired with issues causing families difficulty accessing, submitting and correcting forms.
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday the form was riddled with “delays and challenges” but the department expected it to be fixed for the application cycle beginning next October.
The under secretary of education told reporters Tuesday the department had only received over 8.4 million FAFSA submissions so far this year, compared to an average of 17 million in a typical year, the New York Times reported.
By filling out the form by the July 1 deadline in Massachusetts, eligible students will qualify for MASSGrant awards automatically. The state extended the MASSGrant program in November to allow all Pell Grant eligible students free tuition to Massachusetts public colleges and universities. The extension also cuts tuition and fees in half for students whose families make between $73,000 and $100,000 annually.
Massachusetts education officials highlighted a new initiative Tuesday to boost the number of students filling out FAFSA. The initiative includes nearly $600,000 in grants to over 100 public schools for FAFSA completion events, awards and other incentives.
“We understand that there has been a delay on the federal level by the implementation of the new FASFA,” said Massachusetts Acting Education Commissioner Russell Johnston. “However, just building on Secretary Tutwiler’s words, there is definitely still time for college bound students to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, FAFSA, and apply for college this fall.”
