Some immigrant households fear missing out on college financial aid
One of many glitches in this year’s FAFSA overhaul prevented those without Social Security numbers from starting their forms. Fixes are just now trickling in.
Alma Rodriguez has been trying for months to submit her son’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as FAFSA, form online. Despite trying workarounds and partial fixes to the website, she’s been unable to complete it.
Many parents filling out FAFSA forms for their children headed to college this year have experienced glitches, website crashes and monthslong delays from formula errors and other hiccups — in an application process officials had hoped to streamline with an overhaul this year.
But Rodriguez hasn’t even had a chance to run that technical obstacle course because she has no Social Security number, which until recently had prevented her from even creating an online account with the Federal Student Aid office, a crucial first step to filing an application.
“We’ve been very, very stressed,” Rodriguez said of herself and her son, Andre Pintor, who is a U.S. citizen and now staring down fast-approaching deadlines on where to attend college next fall. “Not just us as parents,” she added, “but our kids, too.”
About 5.7 million people have already submitted FAFSA forms this year, the Department of Education estimates — a roughly 35% lag behind last year at this time, according to the National College Attainment Network, which advises students on postsecondary education. Without completing a FAFSA application, students can’t receive financial aid packets from the government or their prospective schools. Many will receive that information later than usual this year.
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