A recent pushback in the release date of the FASFA has begun to cause problems among high school seniors looking to commit to universities.

The FASFA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is the platform through which the United States government determines how much money to give students who need help covering college costs. While each school has their own rules on offering merit and financial scholarships, the money from the FASFA is purely need-based and is given by the federal Department of Education.

The FASFA generally becomes available in early October of every year. However, due to setbacks in attempting to simplify the application process, this year it was not released until December 31. As a result, the financial package that typically reaches colleges in mid-January will not be sent until March.

The main outcome of the delay is that applicants will not have access to the full scope of their financial aid opportunities until late March or early April. For thousands of students, such as Lily Ramirez, this makes committing to a college much more daunting.

“It’s difficult to choose a college because I have other factors besides myself to consider. I have the burden of thinking ‘can I afford this?’ and it’s made it difficult to decide where to go.”

While many are waiting anxiously for their full packages to become available, just as many others have already committed, and are now facing uncertainty regarding scholarships.

“Penn State doesn’t release merit-based scholarships until after they get the FASFA,” says recent commit Ellie Fredrick. “It’s delayed me in hearing back about scholarships.”

Despite the hesitance in the decision process, many schools have maintained that they will still require that students commit to an institution by May 1, 2024. This means that applicants waiting for their aid packages may have less than a month to make their college decision.