PENNSYLVANIA, USA — As the fall semester begins to wind down on campuses across the Commonwealth, students are already preparing for next semester. However, many are still waiting for their financial aid to come through for this semester, which should've happened in September.
"There's kids that can register for classes, there's kids that can get their diploma because they have a balance," said Trisha Kessler.
Kessler's son, Brayden, is a freshman at Bloomsburg University. He is one of the thousands of students who are part of a holdup, waiting for their Pennsylvania state grant to come through for the fall semester. Trisha says she's been calling for answers as to when the money will come in but has been left in the dark.
"They don't know when. They don't give you a date. They just say you have to wait, and you don't know when," said Kessler.
The PA state grant is administered by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, known as PHEAA. Usually, the grants are awarded sometime in September. However, this year, it’s seen several rounds of delays, leaving parents in the dark and students with up to $2,630 in outstanding balances. According to PHEAA, the maximum award for the 2024-25 school year is expected to be $5,260 per year, or $2,630 per semester for full-time students.
"It makes me mad, it makes me angry. These kids are trying to better their future and further their education, and there's so many roadblocks," says Kessler.
The delays are impacting colleges and universities across the Commonwealth, like Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre. Desks are piled with paperwork in the University's financial aid offices as they try to help students navigate this backup. Christy Snedeker is the director of undergraduate financial aid at Wilkes.
"It has been a lot on the students and families, but also on the institutions requiring more resources for our families to be able to get them through this process this year," said Snedeker. "We are just at the point of applications with the students. So it's been a lot. We have had to reallocate some staff, where they may be doing some other things in the process."
This year, the Department of Education planned to overhaul its federal student aid program, FAFSA. PHEAA also planned an upgrade to its system through a new portal called Grant US. PHEAA says glitches with FAFSA's new system and their own upgrade caused the delay.
A spokesperson for PHEAA said, "We had more than half a million records sent to us all at once, forcing us to condense what would normally amount to nine months of processing into just four. Despite launching a new, modernized Grant system this year, we were just not prepared for such a large volume in such a short period of time."
Wilkes says it took an advance payment from PHEAA to help offset these balances, but Snedeker says the advance payment is just an estimate.
"A lot of schools aren't able to take that on because there's some risk in doing that. We're seeing students at other institutions who may have holds on their accounts that are preventing them from registering for the spring semester," said Snedeker.
A lot of schools aren't able to take that on because there's some risk in doing that. We're seeing students at other institutions who may have holds on their accounts that are preventing them from registering for the spring semester.
Leaving some parents at other schools, like Kessler, to foot the bill in the meantime. But that’s not a possibility for every family.
"We're really talking about the neediest students, and maybe loans aren't an option for those families," added Snedeker.
In a statement, PHEAA told Newswatch 16, "The Pennsylvania Higher Education Agency (PHEAA) has been working closely with postsecondary schools across the Commonwealth with updated State Grant Disbursement rosters. PA State Grant disbursements for the fall 2024 term were initiated to schools at the end of October. To date, 130 million dollars has been released to schools, and more funds will be released in the coming days. Funds may take additional time to reach student accounts as award verification activities occur between PHEAA and schools. If a student wants to see the amount of their grant award, they can do so by logging into the PHEAA PA State Grant System."
PHEAA said it's having difficulties finding and tracking down student applicants due to the technology upgrades. A spokesperson for PHEAA said, "In a normal year, the old FAFSA form linked electronically, via API, to the PA State Grant Form. That functionality was deprioritized by FSA for the 2024-25 and will again not be available for the 2025-26 FAFSA."
Wilkes says they anticipate delays for the spring semester and maybe even next year. But right now, the school says it’s about getting through the last few weeks of the fall semester.
"I think the Grant US system in future years is going to provide something amazing for these families. But right now, it’s about getting them their funds and getting them where they need to be," said Snedeker.
Action 16 have reached out to PHEAA to see how many students are still waiting to be awarded, but have not yet heard back.