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Govt. scrambles to finish financial aid requests by 15th

As April 15 approaches, members of the University community are waiting anxiously for financial news.

Not only the IRS tax deadline, Monday is also the Federal Department of Education's self-imposed deadline to finish processing the Free Applications for Federal Student Aid received before March 31. After a computer error and 21 days of lost work due to government shutdowns, the pressure is on to fix the backlog and to inform schools of aid disbursements for the coming academic year.

Education Department spokesperson Jane Glickman said the processing is quickly nearing completion.

"As of Tuesday we had 100 percent of (applications received during) January done," Glickman said. In addition, she said, 99 percent of FAFSAs received before Feb. 15 and 94 percent of those received by Feb. 29 were done.

"We're delayed," she said. "We're not going to deny that. We're hoping schools are going to be flexible in their admissions."

Judith Harper, the University's interim director of financial aid, said many incoming students are concerned that if they don't receive a financial aid package, they won't properly be able to choose which college to attend in the fall by the May 1 national enrollment decision date.

"We're still getting more phone calls from parents," Harper said. "We're making every effort to respond to the families affected by the delay in federal processing."

"This is a time that we're watching on a daily basis what records are available," she added. "We're very dependent on the federal processors."

When the University's Office of Financial Aid receives completed records from the Education Department, Harper said, award notices will be sent out within three or four days.

As of yesterday, Harper said 5,000 students have received their initial financial aid awards. At this time last year, 6,300 notices had been sent out.

By Monday's deadline, Glickman said, close to all of the applications received before the end of March should be processed, which will enable schools to get the necessary information to students dependent on aid.

In the event of further delays, the University is developing contingency plans, which Harper could not comment on.

Theodore Spencer, director of undergraduate admissions, said the University will be lenient during this year's admissions process.

"We'll be a bit more liberal this year with the (May 1) deadline for those having difficulty getting their financial aid package completed," he said.

"It's a nationwide problem," Spencer said. "Most colleges are saying we're not going to have an across-the-board change (of enrollment deadlines), but we will take each individual case into consideration."

Enrollment numbers are on the rise, however, as Spencer said enrollment deposits are "slowly creeping up," after the delay that kept students from making their college choices.

Incoming first-year students affected by the delay should not have much difficulty attaining housing or signing up for Orientation, Spencer said.

"We will have space for people who get deposits in around May 1," he added. "Generally, classes and residence halls are not a problem."

Even if federal forms are fully processed by Monday, one unavoidable result will remain -- students on admissions wait-lists will have to hang on a little while longer.

"We'll probably have to stretch that process along during the summer," Spencer said. "It's a major inconvenience."

-- Daily Staff Reporter Jeff Eldridge contributed to this report.