In a typical year, the University of Central Arkansas would have already drawn down student aid information for nearly 4,000 prospective students, and work would be underway in helping them decide if UCA is the right college for them. 

“As we sit here today in early March, that number is zero,” said UCA President Houston Davis. “The number is the same here at UCA as everywhere else in the country.” 

Across the country, colleges and universities are dealing with the fallout from delays surrounding an update to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as FAFSA.  

The U.S. Department of Education — charged by Congress in 2021 to remake and simplify the application — was months late in making the form available for students to fill out online and has now missed two deadlines for transferring student data to colleges and universities.  

In a typical year, the federal form — required to apply and receive federal grants, work study programs, loans, and can also be required for state awards and other aid programs — is available in October for graduating high school seniors to fill out and begin the process of choosing a college. Soon after, colleges and universities receive student information to begin the process of matching students with aid packages.  

Ryan Cassell, vice president of enrollment and dean of admission at Hendrix College, said it is typically able to provide comprehensive aid packages to prospective students and families by November. This year, with FAFSA delays, Hendrix College has pivoted to providing a personalized portal for prospective students to review an aid forecast.  

“We went into the year knowing there would be a delay and worked in the late summer and early fall to develop a personalized financial aid and cost portal for students,” Cassell said. “The challenge and the frustration are not being able to deliver to families the information they are seeking.” 

Like Hendrix College, Davis said UCA learned last summer there was growing concern the Department of Education wouldn’t meet its normal and planned timeline. To combat that, UCA started reaching out to prospective students in October to communicate the situation to them. 

“We wanted them to know that while they might find the process disconcerting, we were there for them, we were there to support them with guidance, and could offer assurances this would work out,” he said. 

A Chilling Effect 

As of Feb. 23, FAFSA submissions are down by 38% as nearly 672,000 fewer high school seniors have completed their forms than this time last year, according to data from the National College Attainment Network.  

In Arkansas, there are nearly 5,000 fewer high school seniors who have completed FAFSA, compared to 2023.  

“When your overall cohort of high school seniors is about 35,000, and not all of them are thinking about going to college, that ends up being a significant share of the college-going population,” Davis said. 

About 23% of the high school senior class in Arkansas has completed FAFSA, according to National College Attainment Network data. 

Davis said he worries the situation could produce a chilling effect on the number of first-time college students who enroll in programs this fall.  

“Our level of frustration comes from the fact we know there will be students in Arkansas and across the country who will be so frustrated by this situation, they choose not to go to school this fall,” he said. “There was a chilling effect in the fall of 2020, due to the pandemic, and it’s frustrating to know that we have something here that was avoidable that may have an equally chilling impact on this freshman class.” 

Remaining Flexible 

Cassell said the only scholarship program currently impacted by the delays at Hendrix College has been the Aspire Scholarship Program. The program covers up to the full cost of attendance for pell grant-eligible students. To know students who are eligible for federal pell grants, Hendrix College first needs student data from their FAFSA forms. 

“In past years, we would be in collection mode right now,” Cassell said. “Our hope is to be able to have an idea of who is eligible by early April.” 

Cassell said Hendrix College plans to move ahead with its target decision date for students as May 1, but will be flexible with those who cannot make that decision by then due to the FAFSA delays. 

“We will be flexible working with students who want to be here, even after the May 1 date,” Cassell said. 

In September, UCA announced a debt-free pathway program, UCA Commitment, for incoming Arkansas freshmen from households making $100,000 or less a year. Davis said the school set an artificial deadline of May 1 for the program in 2024, due to expected FAFSA delays. 

“We pushed back UCA Commitment, we will continue to provide maximum flexibility with scholarship acceptance dates, and we have accepted that just about everything we do this year will need to be done with later deadlines than normal,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do to be able to help this incoming class and be a counterbalance.” 

Davis said UCA Commitment is also serving as a major help for the current situation. 

“For students from Arkansas with families who are thinking about how they can afford to send their children to college, that decision hinged on FAFSA,” he said. “We can tell them if they know their household income is below the $100,000 threshold, they’re going to be OK. We can work out the details and put them at ease about that, and then focus on whether UCA is the right fit for them.” 

The Tipping Point 

Officials at UCA and Hendrix College said they encourage students to fill out the application.  

“The system is open, and they will receive confirmation once they are done,” Davis said. “While they may have to wait for feedback, and we are still waiting to receive data, students should still go ahead and complete the process.” 

Davis said addressing the situation sometimes “requires you to step back, admit it is happening, grit your teeth, and get to work,” but there is a point when the situation could turn even more perilous. 

“If the Department of Education doesn’t meet its current March 15 deadline, everyone’s fear is what does that mean as a result,” he said. 

Many high school seniors and families rely on school career and guidance counselors to walk through the process with them, but delays threaten that, Davis said. 

“If this is not solved by the end of the high school senior year, there isn’t a safety net for reaching those students,” Davis said. “We are already at a bit of a crisis point for individual students, but we will be at a crisis for the cohort at that point.”