The delays, frustrations and challenges of the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) have been heavily publicized, as recently as a Sept. 26 article from Inside Higher Ed. Administrators of the FAFSA, charged with a Congressional goal of “simplification,” delayed release of the form for months, causing angst for thousands of families and schools. Many institutions that relied on FAFSA data (normally available as early as October) for federal, state, and institutional aid eligibility were forced to wait until April or later to send financial aid package offers to admitted students.

Franklin & Marshall was not immune to obstacles associated with FAFSA delays. The FAFSA was not fully functional until mid-January, and F&M was unable to begin downloading FAFSA records until April. Despite the delay, F&M was among 250 institutions that had a clear advantage because it uses the CollegeBoard’s CSS PROFILE for both domestic and international financial aid applicants. The PROFILE, a much more detailed form than the FAFSA, remained on track and “went live” Oct. 1, 2023. 

Thanks to “buy in” from the entire campus, the Enrollment Management division — knowing that no families would be able to complete the form on time — was able to maintain consistency in its financial aid and admission deadlines by removing the FAFSA from its list of financial aid requirements. The CSS PROFILE and F&M’s PowerFAIDS financial aid software allowed the division to calculate institutional need and estimate federal financial aid while making resource-aware admission decisions on 10,000 applications.

Despite not having any FAFSA records, admitted domestic students received award letters that still contained PELL Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), federal work study eligibility, and federal direct student loans. In doing so, F&M never wavered from continuing to meet 100 percent of all admitted students’ demonstrated financial need. F&M was able to include full guaranteed financial aid letters for both Early Decision I (December 2023) and II (February 2024), as well as Regular Decision (late February/early March, 2024) releases.

While the financial aid team worked hard in the spring and summer months to ensure that enrolled domestic students had corrected and completed FAFSA records on file, no students who committed to F&M had any doubt about their out-of-pocket cost to attend. Looking forward, the CSS PROFILE has already “gone live” for the 2025-26 academic year. The Department of Education delayed the launch of this year’s FAFSA from Oct. 1 to Dec. 1 in order to complete “rigorous testing,” a practice not employed prior to last year’s release.

There is growing optimism amongst the financial aid community that there will be greater improvements, which would equally benefit families and institutions. 

Financial Aid at F&M

We offer multiple forms of aid to make our extraordinary education affordable to all deserving students. We will also meet 100% of your student's institutionally determined financial need for all four years on campus.

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