FAFSA Delays Will Keep Plaguing Students for 2025-26 School Year—How to Maximize Your Chances of Getting Financial Aid

August 12, 2024 – In an article for CNBC Make It about the FAFSA delays, Sannon Vasconcelos, senior director, college finance for Bright Horizons College Coach, shares tips for incoming or current college students as the upcoming financial aid cycle approaches.

“I would not be volunteering — if it were me — for this test FAFSA process beginning in October,” Vasoncelos says. “We’ve just seen so many issues this past year that as a student or family, I would wait until the kinks have been worked out, which is hopefully by December 1.”

Some families worry they won’t get as much aid as they can if they apply later. But there’s a bit of leeway, Vasconcelos says. Generally, when colleges operate on that first-come first-served basis, it takes weeks or even months of students applying for aid for them to get to a point where they start reducing awards because they run up against budgets. 

Read the full article here.