In education news, the UW Board of Regents
this week approved a tuition hike that averages nearly $400 more per year.
For many college-bound students, part of planning for costs includes filling out
the free application for federal student aid, or FAFSA.
It's a necessary step to see what their financial aid package looks like
and whether or where they can enroll.
But this year, the FAFSA process is a mess.
For students and colleges, a new streamlined form from the U.S. Department of Education
came out months late, was difficult or impossible to access,
and then was filled with glitches so bad financial aid offices
that colleges can't even move aid awards along.
In Wisconsin, more than 126,000 students filled out the FAFSA last year
and were awarded financial aid.
For a look inside the mess happening this year, we turn to Katie Weisenberger,
Assistant Director of Federal Awards at the UW-Madison Office of Student Financial Aid
and thanks very much for being here.
Thank you so much for having me.
Quite the setup.
I can't even believe you have time to be here because I understand that people like yourselves
are working nights and weekends just trying to deal with this.
What is happening in your office?
Absolutely.
Things are changing every day.
So we are often on phone calls first thing in the morning,
last thing at night, sending messages to each other,
making decisions based on the current information.
This week, for example, we have been on webinars every day
with federal student aid trying to understand what's happening
and what we can and cannot do.
So how delayed are financial aid awards this year?
They're extremely delayed.
For an example at UW-Madison, we typically have aid offers out
for our new students in January.
And it's April and we are getting closer, but we're not quite there yet.
How many UW-Madison applicants are affected?
All of our UW-Madison applicants are affected.
Or I should clarify anybody who's applying for financial aid.
Right.
Are there concerns that students will end up not attending because of this?
Certainly there are concerns.
Less at UW-Madison, but certainly across the state and across the country.
What are some examples of the problems that people are experiencing with this FAFSA film?
There have been a lot of technical issues.
At the beginning, there were some students and families who couldn't complete the application at all.
Most of those technical issues have been resolved, but the biggest issue right now is
that people just don't know what they're going to receive for financial aid.
So it's really hard to make those decisions about where they're going to go to school,
what they're going to study without having all of the information.
Typically, we are receiving FAFSA records in October,
and we just are to receive them, and we have just been told that at least 20% may not be accurate.
So now we're going to have to wait for the Department of Education to reprocess those FAFSA records
so we can have accurate information.
So has your office then been inundated with concerned students and families?
Yes.
Yes, we have.
Unfortunately, there's just not a lot we can say because we don't necessarily know what is happening
and when it's going to happen.
Families have been absolutely patient and understanding, but it's very stressful,
particularly for those families that have, this is maybe their first time applying for financial aid seniors
in high school trying to make that big decision about where they're going to attend college.
So what is your guidance then to families and students in the midst of this?
Our guidance is, please be patient, please be kind, but mostly check your emails,
particularly the student's email.
So parents often check their emails, but we want the student to check their emails
because if there is something that we need, we will email that student directly.
So that's the number one thing is to pay attention to those emails and those communications.
So how is the admissions office dealing with all of this?
Because that's the upstream problem, right?
Sure, yes.
Our admissions team has been very supportive of our financial aid office,
and the biggest thing that they have done is they have moved the decision date from May 1st to May 15th.
And a lot of other schools have done that across Wisconsin, across the country.
That's the biggest impact that we've done for our students here.
I did notice online that you have in-person sessions this month to help students with success.
One of them happened today.
In your tenure as a financial aid officer, how extraordinary is this year?
This is the craziest year as I've ever seen in my 23 years in financial aid and higher education.
This is a generational change, and I think in the long run, a year from now, this is going to be wonderful
because more people will have access to the federal Pell Grant.
It's an easier application, but right now, the process of implementing it has been a nightmare.
To put it frankly.
Katie Weisenberger, thanks very much.
Thank you so much.
The code that U.S. Department of Education was using was COBOL or something.
It started with the legislation changed, and then throughout the implementation there have been multiple issues.
They didn't take into consideration the income protection allowance.
And then there have been problems with the calculation and the formula.
So even though they are calculating the information and we're receiving it, we don't necessarily know that
that's accurate because they have to reprocess and recalculate everything.
It doesn't give you great faith in the giant federal institutions.
It's been very disappointing.
It's been extremely disappointing.
Nightmare, disappointing.
Sorry.
Well, we gave you a little break.
Yes, thank you.
I appreciate it.
Anything else you need from me?
No.
Okay.
Awesome.
Get back to it.
Exactly.
We've got work to do.
Thank you.