Massachusetts
Massachusetts pushes back FAFSA deadline to July 1
The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education has pushed back the priority deadline for the state’s largest financial aid program from May 1 to July 1 — allowing students more time as they scramble to sort through the messy rollout of federal updates to the financial aid application.
“Our message to students and families continues to remain the same: fill out the FAFSA as soon as possible,” said Commissioner of Higher Education Noe Ortega. “This year’s extended deadline responds to feedback from students, campuses and other partners about this year’s unique challenges with FAFSA completion. We want students to know there are significant financial aid dollars available for those who qualify, and that persevering through completing the FAFSA is worth it.”
The extension allows students attending private and public higher education institutions more time to fill out the FAFSA form and receive state financial aid through the MASSGrant program.
The move follows the Biden Administration’s call for states to extend their FAFSA deadlines. The administration changed the financial aid application this year with a slew of changes including those to eligibility calculations — allowing an estimated 600,000 more students to qualify for Pell Grants — and procedures for packaging financial aid.
Delays and glitches in the updated form’s rollout has left many families behind in getting their FAFSA submitted — then often corrected and resubmitted — and mass confusion officials and families have called “chaos” and a “catastrophe.” A U.S. House education subcommittee held hearings on the botched launch last week, and the Government Accountability Office is currently investigating the update process.
As of Mar. 29, 40% fewer high school students had completed FAFSA compared to the same date in 2023, the U.S. Department of Education reported.
Massachusetts is joining a list of several states that have extended the deadline, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Maryland, Mississippi and California. Many private and public colleges around the country have also pushed back deposit and financial aid deadlines to allow students time to sort out their FAFSA.
“We all want students and families to have the time they need to consider their financial options before making enrollment decisions,” the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and nine other national education organizations wrote in a letter urging colleges to extends the deadline and citing the precedent for FAFSA extensions set during the pandemic.
Many state legislators applauded the administration’s move to allow students more time. State House Speaker Ron Mariano said the impact will be most felt by “students most in need of financial support to make college a reality.”
The Healey administration updates the MASSGrant program in November to allow Pell Grant eligible students free tuition to Massachusetts public colleges and universities and cut the tuition and fees in half for students whose families make between $73,000 and $100,000 annually.
“With FAFSA delays, this has been a challenging year for all students but particularly for those that attend state universities as so many of them are first generation to college,” said Salem State University President John Keenan. “The MASSGrant extension will provide families with a clearer picture of how they can obtain their bachelor’s degree, a dream within reach for many.”
State officials urged students to complete their FAFSA applications as soon as possible, noting that students who qualify for the state’s MASSGrant state aid program who file by July 1 are guaranteed to receive the aid. Students who cannot file FAFSA because of their immigration status may fill out the Massachusetts version MASFA to receive state aid.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts pensions: What’s the pension status of convicted Mass State Police troopers?
Massachusetts pensions: What’s the pension status of convicted Mass State Police troopers?
Subscribe to continue reading this article.
Already subscribed? To log in, click here.
Originally Published:
Massachusetts
Immigrant released on bond in Massachusetts a month after ICE broke car window with hammer
Massachusetts
More black bears need to be hunted in Massachusetts, regulators decide – The Boston Globe
“[Bears] will become established in Eastern Massachusetts if we don’t increase the harvest from our hunting seasons,” black bear state biologist Dave Wattles warned the board on Wednesday. Shortly after his presentation, the board voted for the expanded season.
If adopted by the governor’s office, the bear hunting season will be extended by more than a month, and the state will create youth bear hunting permits. Currently, bears may only be hunted during three different periods in the fall: about three weeks in September, three weeks in November, and during the shotgun deer season, which is typically in early December. Youth ages 12 to 17 may only hunt bears by using an adult’s permit, meaning that the adult may not also kill a bear that year if the youth they are supervising does.
Under the new regulations, bear hunting would be allowed continuously from Labor Day through early December. That means hunters could kill bears throughout October, which was previously off-limits. State officials expect the regulations to take effect in 2026.
Black bears were once almost eliminated from the Commonwealth due to deforestation. They’ve made a dramatic comeback: Currently, there are around 4,500 black bears in Massachusetts.
Wattles said the goal of the new regulations is to keep the population stable — below 5,000 bears, roughly — and stop the population growth.
Around 250 bears per year are taken by hunters in Massachusetts. Regulators want to almost double that number to between 450 and 500 bears killed by hunters per year. Wattles estimates that figure would stabilize the Massachusetts bear population but not reduce it.
Most bears that traverse into Eastern Massachusetts are killed in vehicle collisions with cars and trucks, Wattles said in an interview. He worries that if too many bears become established in urban parts of the state, the public’s perception of bears will sour, a concept known in wildlife biology as the “cultural carrying capacity.”
“Our bear population is very healthy,” Wattles said. “We want to maintain bears, and manage them at levels that are compatible with modern Massachusetts.”
Bears once roamed across the entire state, but after Europeans arrived in what is now Massachusetts, massive deforestation in the 1800s converted the forest into agricultural land, nearly eliminating bears and other forest-dwelling species from the landscape. In 1940, there were fewer than 10 black bears present in the state.
As the land was reforested in the 20th century, however, the bears returned. By the mid-1970s, the population reached around 100 bears; by the 1980s, around 500; and today, it’s nearing 5,000.
Though the trees have returned, new threats to bear habitat have emerged: Black bear habitat is disappearing across the United States due to suburban sprawl and urban growth, a trend that increases the odds of human encounters.
“We have a real problem with black bears,” said Bob Durand, a member of the board and former state environmental secretary. “It’s an issue of … how many black bears we can allow in the Commonwealth before real damage is done.”
“We are trying to get ahead of the problem,” he added. “Frankly, we get a ton of calls [about bears] and it takes up a lot of resources.”
Comments by the public on the expanded hunting season were mixed: Many individuals protested the change, asking the state to “leave the bears alone” and to relocate problem bears rather than increase hunting. Many others, however, wrote in favor of the regulations and, in their comments, complained about increased encounters with bears on their property.
The bear problem poses a question of “how much a society is willing to accept living with nature,” said Brittany Ebeling, deputy director of the Berkshire Environmental Action Team, a conservation nonprofit. She said that in general, she was disappointed with the board’s decision to expand hunting rather than to increase public education in the Commonwealth.
“It doesn’t feel like we’ve tried everything, or to do deterrence-based strategies [first],” Ebeling said.
But Wattles, the state biologist, argues that education is not enough to stop bear encounters: “The public has heard it all,” he said, noting that he does dozens of press interviews and public educational events every year about how to reduce bear activity in neighborhoods. The biggest issue is that people leave easy-to-access food sources for bears outside on their decks and in their backyards, he said.
“Getting the public to change their behaviors and take this message seriously, unfortunately, just doesn’t work,” he said.
Patti Steinman, a naturalist for Mass Audubon based in Western Massachusetts, said that it’s not unusual to see a bear as often as once a week when they are active. She emphasized that residents need to bring bird feeders inside overnight or not use them at all, and also to clean up any pet food outdoors.
“We as homeowners need to be responsible,” Steinman said. “The most dangerous wild animal is one that loses its fear of people. We need to respect them … They are here to stay.”
Erin Douglas can be reached at erin.douglas@globe.com. Follow her @erinmdouglas23.
Watch: Chaos as Mexican Navy ship collides with Brooklyn Bridge, sailors seen dangling – Times of India
Gavin Newsom removes ad after being knocked for using Ukraine footage while bragging about California
Midwestern state reports first measles case since 2011
Texas jury returns verdict in 2022 stabbing death of high school classmate: report
North Carolina town destroyed by Hurricane Helene hoping to welcome tourists back by midsummer
-
Austin, TX1 week agoBest Austin Salads – 15 Food Places For Good Greens!
-
Technology1 week agoNetflix is removing Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
-
World1 week agoThe Take: Can India and Pakistan avoid a fourth war over Kashmir?
-
News1 week agoReincarnated by A.I., Arizona Man Forgives His Killer at Sentencing
-
News1 week agoWho is the new Pope Leo XIV and what are his views?
-
Entertainment1 week agoReview: 'Forever' is a sweet ode to first love (and L.A.) based on Judy Blume's novel
-
News1 week agoEfforts Grow to Thwart mRNA Therapies as RFK Jr. Pushes Vaccine Wariness
-
Politics1 week agoDepartment of Justice opens criminal investigation into NY AG Letitia James