BEAUMONT, Texas — A new simplified FAFSA form has caused unexpected issues for thousands of Lamar University students. Delays with the federal financial aid application meant uncertainty for students just weeks before classes.
LU officials say the federal aid application went from having about 100 questions to about 40. The government was hoping to make it easier for students to fill out, but instead it caused delays and uncertainty.
"It is a worry that you're not going to be booked for those classes, and you might be pushed a year back," said freshman, Lyndsey Dominguez.
Dominguez is among millions of students who dealt with issues when applying for federal student aid.
"It was really confusing and I had to re- do it because it didn't submit," Dominguez said.
She says she didn't know anything was wrong until about two months before school started in August.
"We noticed that quite a few students that said their FAFSA was processed but we never got it," said Natalie Butaud, with the student aid office at LU. "There were a lot of issues when it came to schools having access to those FAFSAs and being able to pull them into our system."
Butaud says because rolling out the new application was delayed, students applied much later.
"Typically every year they open October 1 and this year it was December 31.
Butaud says when the university finally did gain access to the applications this spring, they spent May through July processing as many as they could.
"I know our team rallied together and tried to work even better as a team as we usually do," Butaud said.
She says 90% of students at Lamar were impacted. But with the department's help students received the aid they needed, just in time for the new year.
"It truly is a community and we all work together and we're all here for the students," said Butaud.
"They did work with us and they understood that FAFSA was working on things. Hopefully next year it will be better," said Dominguez.
Butaud says despite the chaos the Department of Education is planning to open federal aid applications in December 2024 again. But she feels more confident now that they know what to expect.