West Virginia officials take action to aid applicants facing FAFSA woes

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) — Students throughout the country working to prepare for the fall semester are still feeling the impact of issues with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

A newly redesigned application process has for months been plagued by technical issues, leaving many still unclear about how much financial assistance they will be able to get to help pay for college.

While the fixes to these issues are beginning to roll out, West Virginia officials continue to raise alarms and make moves to help prospective students.

Last week, Gov. Jim Justice issued a State of Emergency for education, noting that West Virginia alone has seen a 40% decline in FAFSA applications.

The governor claimed part of the problem is that the process has become too difficult for students and their families to understand and complete.

“A lot of kids are sitting on the sidelines wondering not when the money can come, but ‘Am I going to be able to go to college?’” Justice said. “The way around this is for the governor to declare a State of Emergency for the state of West Virginia so we can bypass this FAFSA stuff and we can at least get on to getting our kids state funding.”

West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission Chancellor Dr. Sarah Tucker explained that under the State of Emergency, students who apply for and qualify for the PROMISE Scholarship by Sept. 1 will receive up to $5,500 for the 2024-25 academic year.

If a student completed last year’s FAFSA and qualifies for the need-based West Virginia Higher Education Grant, the student will receive up to $3,400 for the Fall 2024 semester, Tucker said.

She added that those without a prior FAFSA but who are eligible for any of a number of assistance programs can qualify for a Higher Education grant.

The programs include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Women, Infants and Children and the Childcare Subsidy Program.

“If a student or a family needs a replacement eligibility letter to provide to the financial aid office, you can call 877-716-1212 to request a new one,” Tucker said.

Those who qualify for a Higher Education Grant or the PROMISE Scholarship will receive the funding regardless of their FAFSA status, Tucker said.

Tucker encouraged students and their families to contact the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission for help with completing the FAFSA.

After the announcement Tuesday afternoon, Fairmont State University President Dr. Mike Davis told WV News that he’s thankful for the broadening of state financial aid.

He said that roughly 90% of Fairmont State’s students are West Virginians, and providing this sort of aid to incoming students is a needed shot in the arm for the upcoming academic year.

“Right now, we’re in very good shape enrollment-wise, but we’re also seeing a lag compared to previous years in terms of students’ acceptance of merit-based scholarships, and we think that’s a direct result of the holdup with FAFSA,” Davis said. “We were thrilled to see the governor’s announcement today because we think it’s going to supercharge the recruitment efforts that are already happening on campus, because students will actually know how much they’ll have to pay to come to Fairmont State next year.”

The same day the governor announced the emergency declaration, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and other members of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies questioned U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona regarding the FAFSA issues.

FAFSA completion is “36% down among freshmen nationally, (and) in West Virginia down 40%,” Capito said, with completion among “West Virginia students aged 25 and up down 35%.”

“We’ve got to be more aggressive here,” she added. “I honestly get tired — I’m on the Appropriations Committee, and it’s all about money, but it seems like the only solution we ever we ever hear is, ‘We need more money for staff.’ Well, this could have been done a lot better.”

Capito also believes the department’s efforts to enact the Biden Administration’s student debt relief agenda has diverted the department’s resources away from “focusing on the fundamentals of people trying to go to college for the first time.”

During the questioning, Cardona noted that fixes had been made to the application process. According to information released by the Department of Education that same day, the department has completed reprocessing 2024–25 FAFSA forms impacted by known issues with Internal Revenue Service data.

Tucker had previously told West Virginia lawmakers that with the new system, the Student Aid Index — which determines an applicant’s financial need — had been incorrectly calculated. This was hindering some of the state’s aid programs which are either need-based or are “last-dollar-in” programs, which means the state needs to know what the federal allocation will be.

“After the progress we’ve made in recent weeks, we are now processing FAFSA forms quickly and accurately, and many schools are sending out financial aid offers,” said U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal, “The department’s top priority is to bring higher education more in reach for more students, and we know that the better FAFSA can help unlock those opportunities.”

The Department of Education also announced changes to allow applicants and contributors without a Social Security number to immediately access and submit the online form.

These actions coincide with a national outreach campaign to continue increasing completion rates.

“Look, we’re on the same team here,” Cardona told the subcommittee. “We want to get as many students connected (as possible), and I look forward to working with you to make sure we can do that.”