Complications related to significant changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) – as well as a new Michigan state budget – are the main factors delaying the rollout of financial aid letters for returning students at Calvin and other universities this year.
The introduction of significant changes to the FAFSA delayed the availability of the 2024-2025 application from October 2023 to January 2024. Even after the FAFSA was available, it “really didn’t function at a level where it was widely available and functional to students until I would say February or March,” said Paula Elenbaas, Calvin’s associate director of financial aid.
Because of this, financial aid packages for Calvin students and many other students at colleges and universities across the country have been delayed. Kuyper College’s director of financial aid, Agnes Russell, and Hope College’s director of financial aid, Jill Nutt, both told Chimes that their institutions were delayed in sending out financial aid packages due to delays in receiving the FAFSA.
In response, the federal House of Representatives advanced a bill mandating that the FAFSA become available by Oct. 1.
Usually, the FAFSA for each upcoming year becomes available in October, and Calvin begins to receive completed applications in November. From there, the Financial Aid Office can begin preparing financial aid packages for incoming freshmen – which are usually sent out in February – as well as obtain additional information from incoming or current students, according to Elenbaas.
For returning students, financial aid packages are typically released in June after spring semester grades become available. This year, however, Calvin did not receive FAFSA information until the end of March. Further complications arose when “the first FAFSAs came in with incorrect asset information, so we couldn’t really do anything with them until Federal Student Aid corrected that,” Elenbaas said.
Calvin’s Financial Aid Office was able to send out financial aid packages to most incoming students by mid-April, but financial aid packages for returning students are still delayed. A factor in this continued delay, according to Elenbaas, is Michigan’s new state budget.
The budget, which included $23.4 billion for education, was passed by the state legislature on June 27 – but still needs to be signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Once Gov. Whitmer signs the budget, Calvin must factor in “guidance from the state treasury on how aid from the state of Michigan is awarded,” according to Elenbaas.
At Calvin, issues with Workday have also contributed to delays, as some “calculations aren’t working exactly right,” said Elenbaas.
“Our hope is that those financial aid letters will be out, I would say, by the end of next week,” said Elenbaas. “But that depends on the state of Michigan, and that depends on our Workday calculations performing as we hope they will.”
As a result of the delays and complications, Elenbaas told Chimes many students who typically fill out a FAFSA have yet to do so for 2024-25.“There’s been a lot of press out there saying don’t do it too early because you might have some problems,” said Elenbaas. “But if a student is going to college this fall and typically used need-based financial aid to pay for college, they need to get their FAFSA filed in the next couple of weeks.”
Elenbaas said the financial aid office is “still figuring out” what the changes mean for incoming students, and that they don’t “don’t anticipate a lot of changes” for returning students as a result of the new state budget.With the revamped FAFSA, some students may experience changes due to changes in how financial need is calculated.
“If things really change for a student, and they want to understand why, they can always reach out to us. We are always happy to walk that through with students,” said Elenbaas.
Students who have received their financial aid letter can contact to [email protected] with any questions or concerns.
