After the updated Free Application for Federal Student Aid launched two months later than expected, on Dec. 30, its delays and mistakes continue to impact students around the country. At USC, that pressure only intensified as some current first-years were forced to decide between in-state colleges — often with lower price tags — and their favored Southern California institution for financial reasons. 

In a typical year, the FAFSA opens Oct. 1, and results are sent to colleges a few days after completion. This past cycle forced families to wait until Dec. 30 to submit. Once the FAFSA opened, students faced glitches and mistakes, leaving them scared and unsure of their future.

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“This year we saw an increase in FAFSA submissions later in the summer than usual – about 1,100 more applications – which indicates that students were delayed in making submissions,” USC Financial Aid wrote in a statement to the Daily Trojan.

Ava Vasquez, a freshman majoring in psychology, faced an inaccessible FAFSA website each time she tried to fill out her application. She said the process was frustrating for her family because financial aid was a primary determinant of which college she would ultimately attend. 

“For schools like USC, with the higher tuition, financial aid was definitely important, and the delay made it more rushed,” Vasquez said. “It was just more strenuous and stressful for family as well that were just left wondering where their daughter was moving.” 

Discouraged by the faulty application and continuous delays, many students forewent the FAFSA entirely. The National College Attainment Network published that FAFSA completion rates were down 40% through March 29 compared to the previous year. The problems disproportionately affected first-generation, low-income families and students with undocumented family members. 

One of the new additions to the FAFSA was the FSA ID, which offered a secure way to access and update a student’s FAFSA. The ID required the Social Security Number of all contributors and was needed to make an account. For undocumented students or students with undocumented parents, this presented a significant issue. 

Aaron Fulk, the director of college counseling at the University School of Nashville and former board member of the Association of College Counselors at Independent Schools, faced difficulties helping a student — whose parent was undocumented — fill out the FAFSA. 

When filling out the documentation status of their parents, the student continuously faced a pop-up message informing them to call a phone number. After multiple calls with a pre-recorded message, Fulk reached out to the Financial Aid System of Tennessee for support on the student’s behalf. Without Fulk’s outreach, he is confident the student would not have been able to submit the application. 

“Most of our students had some kind of error come up,” Fulk said. “Normally, when the FAFSA has that, it’s not a big deal. They just go in, they’ve resolved it; we can help them with it. But last year if there was an error, it locked them out. They could not go in and fix it.”

These problems persisted for students around the country. Kobe Gonzalez, a freshman majoring in neuroscience, faced issues when trying to submit his FAFSA. 

Due to limited resources and information, college financial aid offices were stretched thin and unable to properly assist incoming students. Gonzalez said he was routinely asked to submit documents he had already submitted to USC. 

Gonzalez waited on the phone for over an hour on multiple occasions over the summer to speak with someone at the financial aid office, which he said was highly discouraging — especially when he was debating between several prestigious colleges who had already offered the aid he expected.

“It made the whole process a little more difficult when it really should have been smoother,” Gonzalez said. “Given that USC is such a large college, I would expect more out of the financial aid office.” 

Gonzalez said his difficulties navigating the FAFSA and USC’s financial aid office made him question his decision to attend the University. Ultimately, Gonzalez held out hope for his dream school and received the financial aid package he was looking for. 

The Department of Education announced its plans to retain the December release date for the 2025-26 FAFSA cycle for the general public. However, in the two months prior, they plan to test out the form with select nonprofits and colleges — which may include USC. 

“USC has applied to participate in the 2025 FAFSA testing group so that USC students, and applicants, can have early access to the form,” USC’s Financial Aid Office wrote in a statement to the Daily Trojan. “We hope to have more information from the Department of Education by the end of the month.”