By Will Gilson, Currier Times Staff///

First-year Nursing major, Jayleen Peral, is currently struggling with paying her tuition.

“I still have to pay out of pocket for the semester, but a thousand plus books it’s very expensive,” Peral said. “Definitely still a struggle.”

Peral, also the mother of a one-year-old daughter, thought that due to her situation of being a mom, would help her get more financial aid. “Honestly, I would have expected to get more money,” Peral said.

Peral isn’t the only student in the country having trouble paying tuition. Other colleges and universities have struggled this year getting financial aid information out to possible students. Schools such as Ohio State University have even extended enrollment commitment day, usually on May 1st every year to May 15th to give time for the data to be collected.

This is due to issues with the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, a form that allows students to request federal money, grants, and student loans. The FAFSA Form is usually made available on October 1st of each year. However, changes made to the original FAFSA form in late December 2023 have delayed the data that colleges need to determine how much financial aid they can give. Some of these issues range from glitches in the system to an applicant’s status, raising concern that colleges won’t receive the data to determine financial aid eligibility until mid-March.

On Curry’s campus, enrollment for the fall ‘24 semester is just starting as students consider Curry as their college. Stephanny Elias, Associate Vice President of Financial Aid, said despite the delay, students can still commit to Curry.

“The Admission Office is and will continue to accept applicants to Curry,” Elias said. “But similar to all students who apply for aid, we need to provide the aid package information so students can make informed enrollment decisions and commit to Curry.”

Elias added that Curry is currently in the process of exploring other methods of how to handle the FAFSA issue.

“Curry, like all schools, is waiting for the federal government to provide the needed data,” Elias said. “However, while we wait, we are exploring alternative ways to obtain the data.”

Other students have reacted to the delay of FAFSA data across campus. Andrew Daponte, a sophomore Business and Economics major could struggle with financial aid soon.

“For financial aid, I actually have not struggling with it right now,” Daponte said. “At the moment if I do get lower than a three I think GPA then I will be struggling.”

The end of the new FAFSA issues seems unclear, but what families can do currently is troubleshoot by contacting the Federal Student Aid office at customerservice@studentaid.gov, or call 800-4-FED-AID, or be patient and prepare for when any estimates are released. 

As for current students, Peral isn’t confident that the situation will improve.

“I remember someone telling me yeah good luck with financial aid,” Peral said. “They’re very strict on giving more money and they’re not really helpful.”