EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Phones ring constantly inside the Student Enrollment Center on the campus of East Stroudsburg University. Many of the calls concern the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
It's a form completed by current and prospective college students to determine their eligibility for financial aid, but families have been delayed in receiving it after the Department of Education revamped the process with a new, easier-to-use application.
"FAFSA opens in October, so they're able to start applying. This year, it was not open until December, so that throws us back quite a few months," said Lorna Hunter, vice president for enrollment management at ESU. "They are rearranging the FAFSA to try and make it simpler for students, less questions, get their answers faster, but like with any new system, there are glitches, and there have been quite a few of those."
To help students with the process, ESU is offering accepted students financial aid estimates.
Hunter says that because of the delays, ESU doesn't have the information from the federal government, so officials can't make up award packages for students. By offering an estimate, Hunter says it will help students gauge whether or not they can attend the university. But to get the estimate, you need to have applied for FAFSA.
"A student will send us their student aid index. Then we send them an estimated financial aid notification so that they can look at that, and it will be really pretty close, if not right on the dot. So that they can know, 'This is what I can expect from ESU.'"
The delays have forced the university to change its May 1 deadline for students to accept their offers of admission to May 15.
If any accepted students have questions about their financial aid package, Hunter says they should contact the East Stroudsburg University Office of Admissions.