MSUM and NDSU say they’ve felt the impacts of the FAFSA delay

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – This year has been a nightmare for schools and students with the free application for federal student aid, as the FAFSA has had many issues. This issue has even made it’s way to North Dakota State University and Minnesota State University Moorhead.

“Did we see this coming down the pipeline is a yes and no response,” said Seinquis Leinen, the senior director of strategic enrollment management at NDSU. “We knew things were going to be delayed. Did we know they were going to be delayed until now? No.”

For starters, the U.S. Department of Education came out with a new FAFSA form for this year, but due to delays and online issues processing has been very far behind. And many students are left wondering if they can afford college this year. MSUM says they had to pivot and use other means to help students figure out their financial plans for schooling.

“We’ve been able to counteract that at MSU Moorhead by rolling out a couple great tuition programs,” said Tom Reburn, the director of undergraduate admissions at MSUM. “First there is the North Star Promise Program that is offering a free tuition fee scenario for students with an AGI of under $80,000. Family AGI. And we’ve duplicated a lot of those free tuition efforts into North Dakota and South Dakota.”

And NDSU is trying to ease the process for families and students because normally decisions are made by early May on where you are going for college, but we may see that decision delayed to even June.

“For students, many are still waiting for their financial aid offers,” said Leinen. “That includes students who are either starting or returning at North Dakota State at the Fall. We are currently in the process of packaging and awarding those students and hope to do so in the very near future in the coming weeks. But nationwide, students are receiving delayed packages when they would normally receive this information as early as December, January and February. It’s now almost early May.”

The deadline for the 2024-25 FAFSA is set for June 30th next year.