The 2024-2025 FAFSA rollout cycle was plagued with a long list of obstacles that eventually prevented many families across the U.S. from getting their financial aid packages and sending their kids to school. Now, as the 2025-2026 form is scheduled to be made available in less than a month, users hope the application process is less rocky.

The Department of Education acknowledged in early August it will launch the 2025-26 FAFSA in phases as part of a strategy to fix problems and quickly turn around software upgrades. The form will be made available starting Oct. 1 to a "limited set" of students and colleges, with the goal of being able to identify system errors before the application is rolled out to all students by Dec. 1.

"Following a challenging 2024-2025 FAFSA cycle, the (Education) department listened carefully to the input of students, families and higher education institutions, made substantial changes to leadership and operations... and is taking a new approach this year that will significantly improve the FAFSA experience," said Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.

But while the upcoming FAFSA is set to be released in the coming months, certain students are still awaiting their 2024-25 financial aid package. That is why families need to be prepared and aware of any new information and updates with the upcoming school year, Craig Cornell, Vice President of Enrollment Strategy for Undergraduate and Systems at Liaison International, said.

Cornell, a FAFSA expert with vast experience in enrollment throughout his decades-long career, recently sat down to discuss what families across the U.S. should know about the controversial 2024-25 FAFSA rollout, and how they can prepare for the school year ahead.

This interview has been modified for length and clarity.

College enrollment has been an issue in the US for a couple of years now, how will the FAFSA errors affect this?

Craig Cornell: Well, you know, one of the things that we've been talking to institutions about, as a company, and honestly, me personally too, whether it be it's been with institutions over the past year has been looking at last year's fall data, and so we saw the Latino population of new freshmen across the country drop about 3.3% last year, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. And so, the year before that, there was actually a 10% increase in new freshmen, but then all of a sudden, in a year, goes from plus 10% to minus 3.3 and now on top of that, we have this year's real challenge. So I do think there, there is a real concern on how all these populations are going to come through, and especially the marginalized populations, like Latino populations in general, they're also strong populations of Latino students that may not be affected by financial aid, but those that are that's going to be I think that is a real concern, especially coming off last year's loss. Those are some of the conversations we have with institutions where we start to talk a lot about the importance of really specific communications to students about affordability, or about how to read, how to look at the options that are before them. You know, gap years, delay years, how to show the benefits of still committing and really mostly just reaching out personally and getting a hold of students that are in your pipeline, or in campuses' pipeline to make sure that they can, that they're going to be able to make it, or what questions they may have, especially regarding financial aid.

This year has literally been the hardest year in history of probably my entire career for financial aid folks, because they just kind of felt like their hands were tied. And many of them were doing some pretty neat things when it comes to financial aid, or awarding or using their own institutional aid and reaching out to students to try to really get at populations that needed some assistance. I'm just afraid there's a group of students there that just couldn't quite wait long enough to get that information, or literally, may still be waiting for all that information. I just hope that they re-engage and get prepared for the spring, but the biggest issue is just to make sure that they know they can contact those financial aid offices and try to still, still figure out a way to get in in the fall, if that's what they want to do.

Much focus has been on the issues that have plagued the new form's rollout. But does the actual form improve the experience of users, particularly minority users?

CC: They definitely made some big improvements this past year. Their process of processing the improvements was the challenge, but the form itself has been more simplified. I mean, I remember in the old days you would have to hold financial aid days just to walk people through on filling out the form. You know, there were rooms full of hundreds and hundreds of folks just to do that, the form has become much easier over the years because of really intelligent online services. So based on the question you ask, you get the next question. But if that one doesn't apply, you don't see that question. Those kind of things, the big change was, and really what drove this, this big change this past year, was the IRS database match, and so that was a process that probably took 15 years for the Department of Education and the IRS to kind of work through the make sure that that is done the right way, which encourages me, as a taxpayer, that that's the how long that process took. But that match now makes it much easier to make sure that the right information is in there. So I do think the form has been simplified.

What should users have in mind at the time of submitting corrections to their FAFSA responses?

CC: I think it's very important to look at the data that was submitted, make sure that's 100% accurate. And if there is anything that's off, always call the financial aid office. They're there to help. I got into [the financial aid] field because I just really wanted to help students get through school. I was a first generation student myself, and no one helped me. And so the idea of being able to help students afford their college, to me, was actually quite encouraging. And that's what drives financial aid folks. They want to give out the money, if they can. They don't want to keep the money. There's no reason to do that. And so I think if anything, do not be afraid to call the financial aid office directly, or go in and see the financial aid office at the institution or institutions you're interested in, and sit down and have a conversation to make sure you understand the process and what's going on.

Make sure the information you did submit is correct. If it's not, contact the Financial Aid Office. Follow the process. But I would contact the Financial Aid Office first and just let them know what you found, because they can maybe even help expedite that and or, you know, put it in directly for you, versus you filling out a form that goes to the department, that goes back to the institution. So really, just, I guess the biggest point is take full advantage of that office and make sure that you know you're looking at every opportunity that's there, because it's really easy to miss a deadline, or it's really easy to miss a form that you didn't realize, and they think you got it, it looks like you have it, but you didn't. And so it's always good just to double check and triple check all that, especially this year, given all the changes. The last thing really is just be prepared for next year's application, because this year, they should be back on the October 1 schedule. And so, you know, October 1 is going to come really fast to make sure that you have all the information you need.

What steps do you think should be taken by the Department of Education to correct these issues? How would you assess their overall handling of this situation?

CC: I think the challenge I've heard from others in the field was just that there was a lack of continued communication. So a lot of it was, you know, "we're working on it, and this will get fixed on this date," and then a day would come, and then something would happen, and then the next day would come and something would happen. So I think the challenge was the ability to really effectively communicate out to the campuses and even to families, what was going on and what the challenges were. So I think you know, a takeaway would be to be more transparent in those communications. But I do know they went through many series of launches that then kind of something came up, a glitch came up, and then they did another launch and a glitch would come up, and so on.

So, I'm hoping that they're taking all this time, which I'm sure they are now, that now that things are kind of running, that they're really getting prepared well for next year. And I think the hope is from everyone that this next upcoming year will be much smoother in line with the new simplified form, the new tax, the new Pell Grant budgets and awarding will just be much smoother. So I think hopefully everyone learned some lessons there. I think what institutions learned especially was the importance of themselves being very open. And we have seen a lot of that, where institutions were very clever, very open in the ways by which they were trying to communicate to families and students about what the challenges were, and how they were going to address it. Many worked all kinds of special angles to assist students, whether it was delaying their commitment dates or offering short term loans or doing everything they could just to make sure that the students were basically protected through this process. So that was really encouraging, and that's what they do. That's what financial aid offices do and institutions do to really just try to make sure that they're basically opening every door they can for the students.

Moving forward, what recommendations would you give to families trying to complete this new FAFSA?

CC: Let's work off the assumption that it's all going to be kind of relatively in line, the form is going to be much more simplified, I think, but it all also is derived from your previous year's tax information. So one of the biggest things is you have to make sure every tax is completed. If you did extensions and those kinds of things, it's going to actually be more challenging to make sure you have your federal IDs set up online. You can even go online to the FAFSA website and make sure your account is prepared and ready. You can do tests, you can do preliminaries, and then after October 1, you will be ready.

Anytime a question comes up, I would call the financial aid office that you're looking at going to directly. They'll know if there's any other glitches or something else that came up before you may have heard or you didn't read that particular article or something. So I think the biggest thing is just really be prepared.

Also really keep an eye on emails. It might be good to establish a parental email or a special email for the family from the financial aid office or make sure that your son or daughter reads the email and forwards it. My son is a senior in college this year, and there's a lot of emails he forgets to read or see, and we hear that all the time, but it's really important, especially from the financial aid office, to pay attention to their communication. They generally are very, very careful when sending out emails, and it generally is really regarding true things happening within their students' direct financial aid form, or what's happening in the field, or what are things to look for. So really keep an eye on communications from the institution regarding financial aid. Those are generally very, very tailored. I know, especially for seniors going off to college, the challenge of so many areas of information kind of flying at them once they become seniors and once they express an interest in a school, all the emails start, and all the communications start, and then they're deciding on roommates and housing and where to go and where to park. And it does get quite overwhelming, but especially for financial aid, being that, really, at the end of the day, no matter what institution you want to go to, can you afford it becomes the final question.

Originally published on Latin Times.

Topics Interview, FAFSA, Education, Financial aid