High school seniors having trouble committing to colleges due to a FAFSA delay

CONWAY, S.C. (WBTW) — Looming deadlines for aspiring college students are making the commitment process a bit more stressful than usual.

That deadline ends Wednesday, but applications for FAFSA aid are accepted through June 30.

Some schools including Coastal Carolina University have pushed their own deadlines back to accommodate the FAFSA window, but for that haven’t, tough decisions loom for potential enrollees.

“In a normal year, we would give out financial aid packages in December, January, and we just got our first group of financial aid packages out last week,” Samantha Hicks, CCU’s assistant vice president of financial aid and scholarships said. “So it’s compressed the time frame for new students a lot.”

Many students and parents are having a hard time figuring out if they should even fill out the FAFSA form because of the issues.

“We’re hearing from parents and high school seniors that they’re not even sure if they should fill it out because they’ve heard of the issues, but we’re encouraging students to go out and try to fill it out if you’re having trouble keep trying on the website,” Hicks said.

FAFSA filing rates have gone down since the start of the delay.

Hicks said it can be hard for seniors to decide where they are going to college if they are not filling out the forms, they need to see how much money they are going to get for school.

She said FAFSA filing rates are down about 30% in South Carolina — trending with nationwide rates that show plummeting participation.

“Students aren’t even trying to fill out the FAFSA because they’ve heard of so many delays,” she said. “They’re not getting the information they need to be able to decide where to go to college.”

Some schools can help by giving potential students an estimate of much aid they could be eligible for.

Hicks said both parents and potential college students should communicate with staff to ensure all questions are answered before it’s too late.

“Making sure that students and parents know to ask the question, ‘if I don’t have my financial aid package my May 1 ^st , are you as a school going to push that date back,’ because we are hearing that some schools will work with students if they don’t have their financial aid package by that May 1 ^st deadline,” she said.

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Hannah Huffstickler is a multimedia journalist at News13. She joined the News13 team in January 2024 after graduating from Coastal Carolina University in December of 2023. Keep up with Hannah on Facebook and Instagram . You can also read more of her work here .

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