Austin, TX

FAFSA delays stall Austin-area students’ college decisions into summer

Published

9 months ago

May 14, 2024

FAFSA delays stall Austin-area students’ college decisions into summer

Brian Lerma-Alfaro, a senior at Lehman High School in Hays County, started his Free Application for Federal Student Aid with paper forms in December.

After months of trying to submit the paper forms, he opened an online application in March.

Two weeks from graduating from high school, he’s still wading through technical difficulties.

“Literally, the only thing I need is a signature from my mom,” Lerma-Alfaro said. “When I go into her account, my form doesn’t pop up.”

Lerma-Alfaro received his acceptance to the University of Texas in February, where he wants to study data science and statistics. But he needs his aid package from the university — which requires the FAFSA form — to receive other scholarships.

He spent two hours in his counselor’s office Monday, trying to work through the form’s technical issue.

“It’s been a huge pain in the butt,” Lerma-Alfaro said.

Delays in the FAFSA process have plunged what’s already a stressful and cumbersome matter for high school seniors into a plague of uncertainty.

Weeks after the usual May 1 college decision deadline, many seniors are still waiting on aid information that’s crucial to making a decision.

A lot of things went wrong this year to create the uncertainty, said Shareea Woods, director of the Texas College Access Network. The organization is meant to improve students’ ability to attend college.

The U.S. Department of Education overhauled the entire system to one that’s meant to be a more streamlined, easier process.

However, glitches pushed back the opening of the FAFSA application process from the typical October date to January. The federal department also didn’t start processing applications until March.

Processing turnaround times are down to one to three days now, according to the federal department.

Burden on colleges

Cindy Melendez, the vice president of student success at Concordia University Texas in Northwest Austin, said universities’ largest challenge with sending out financial aid packages has been waiting on data from the U.S. Department of Education.

“We’re used to these packages going out in February,” Melendez said. “So from February to May, our staff has been really working hard to figure out how we prepare for this time when we have to condense packaging into a much shorter time frame than usual.”

For students with multiple acceptances trying to decide which college will give them the most educational bang for their buck, the delays are causing stress.

“There has been some understanding that our students need more time, especially our students that are coming from economically disadvantaged backgrounds,” Woods said. “We’ve heard some stories of parents putting in deposits at multiple institutions so they can hedge their bet.”

Melendez said the university sent out the first round of aid packages last week. Because Concordia works so closely with families, the deadlines are very flexible, and university staffers have been working with applicants one on one to offer support and guidance.

The University of Texas included an option for students to extend their deadline to June 1. Miguel Wasielewski, vice provost of admissions, said about 1,000 students opted for more time, while about 9,000 committed to the university without knowing their financial aid packages. The office has been in contact with all 1,000 students, he said.

“In this case, it’s all about just making sure that we advocate wherever possible to get them the resources that they need, while also monitoring where they are in the process,” Wasielewski said.

To date, the university hasn’t noticed differences in the makeup of next year’s class compared with previous years because of the FAFSA delays, he said.

Brian Dixon, vice provost for enrollment management, said UT plans to start sending out packages this week. Earlier in the process, the admissions team identified some particularly strong candidates that it anticipated would need financial aid, something typically evaluated from FAFSA data, and offered some early tuition guarantees.

“The institution took that financial risk to try to provide the assurance for those students, and that has been highly effective,” Dixon said. “About 4 out of 5 students who received those early guarantees have taken us up on that offer.”

Cost of delays

Even if colleges let students push back their decision, the delays still cost them, Woods said.

A postponed college acceptance means students could miss out on summer boot camps that colleges offer for some intensive programs or might delay housing choices, she said.

“Our concern is some students may be so turned off by this process they may choose not to enroll,” Woods said.

For students who are still waiting, they should keep an eye on their inboxes and stay in communication with the colleges they’d like to attend, she said.

Dixon still thinks there will be problems to work out next year. For instance, students of parents without a Social Security number initially could not complete the form this year.

Nationwide, fewer students have completed the FAFSA this year compared with last year.

Only 50.4% of Texas high school seniors had completed the FAFSA by May 3, according to the federal Education Department.

By this time last year, 70% of students had completed the application, according to the Texas College Access Network. Even in 2021, which was a record low year because of the pandemic, 58% of Texas seniors filled out the application.

Dixon expects more students will still fill out the form once their peers start receiving letters.

Lerma-Alfaro is the only one among his group of friends left still awaiting an aid package, he said.

With graduation ahead, he’s been working to keep his grades up, look for jobs and spend time with his friends. The balance is already difficult, and he’s ready to get his college plans set in stone.

“I don’t like saving things until the last day,” Lerma-Alfaro said.

The Education Department has updates at studentaid.gov.

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Austin, TX

How many immigrants have been arrested? See which Texas cities had ICE raids this weekend

Published

7 hours ago

January 27, 2025

Press Room

How many immigrants have been arrested? See which Texas cities had ICE raids this weekend

Within a week of Donald Trump’s second term as president, several raids were conducted by ICE agents throughout Texas as well as the rest of the U.S. Upon entering office last Monday, Trump delivered on a campaign promise and issued an executive order to “protect the American people against invasion.” His administration has said the aggressive deportation efforts would prioritize “violent offenders.”

The Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted with the Texas operations.

An ICE spokesperson confirmed the raids in North Texas in an emailed statement to Texas Public Radio:

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement along with our federal law enforcement partners began conducting enhanced targeted operations today in North Texas and the state of Oklahoma to enforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities.“

How many undocumented immigrants have been arrested?

Beginning Thursday, Jan. 23, ICE has reported single-day U.S. statistics for the number of individuals arrested and charged with a crime as well as those detained.

Jan. 23: 538 arrests, 373 detainers lodged
Jan. 24: 593 arrests, 449 detainers lodged
Jan. 25: 286 arrests, 421 detainers lodged
Jan. 26: 956 arrests, 554 detainers lodged

Similar operations occurred in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey and New York, according to various news reports.

It is unclear how many of these arrests and detainments occurred in Texas. However, several cities across the Lone Star State saw these “enhanced targeted operations” on Sunday.

Where did the ICE raids happen in Texas?

Officials have yet to confirm how many undocumented immigrants were apprehended in Texas Sunday. However, local news outlets suggest the following areas have been subjected to the raids:

How many undocumented immigrants are in Texas?

About 1.6 million unauthorized immigrants reside in Texas, according to July 2024 data in a Pew Research Center report.

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Austin, TX

ICE conducts 'targeted enforcement' in Austin over weekend

Published

19 hours ago

January 27, 2025

Press Room

ICE conducts 'targeted enforcement' in Austin over weekend

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted “targeted enforcement actions” in Austin and other cities on Sunday, the DEA Houston division confirmed.

“The DEA Houston division assisted DHS with their targeted enforcement actions. We’ve assisted in several cities to include Austin,” said DEA spokesperson Sally Sparks in a text message to KUT News.

The DEA Houston division operates in a large swath of Texas, all the way from the southern border to as far north as Waco.

The division posted photos associated with the operations on X, formerly known as Twitter, Sunday.

According to ICE, enforcement operations involve “the identification, arrest, detention and removal of aliens who are subject to removal or are unlawfully present in the United States.” KUT News has reached out to Homeland Securities Investigations for further details about Sunday’s operations.

The news of ICE’s activities in Austin comes just over a week after Trump administration “border czar” Tom Homan said ICE would begin conducting illegal immigration enforcement raids. Homan said those raids would begin Tuesday, Jan. 21, and identified Chicago as an early target in an interview with Fox News.

“We’re going to take the handcuffs off ICE and let them go arrest criminal aliens. That’s what’s gonna happen,” Homan said.

ICE confirmed to the Texas Newsroom that operations are also underway in North Texas, where dozens of individuals were arrested over the weekend.

KXAN was first to report the news of ICE’s operations in Austin.

This is a developing story.

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Austin, TX

Yellow Jackets Fall to No. 1 Texas in Championship Match

Published

1 day ago

January 26, 2025

Press Room

Yellow Jackets Fall to No. 1 Texas in Championship Match

AUSTIN, Texas – The Yellow Jackets faced the number one team in college tennis on Sunday but fell 0-4 to Texas in the championship match of the ITA Kickoff Weekend at the Austin Regional.

In doubles action, Texas jumped to a quick 1-0 lead on the day, claiming doubles courts one and three. The duo of Sebastian Eriksson and Jonah Braswell got a 6-3 over the Tech pairing of Gabriele Brancatelli and Robert Bauer, before the No. 7 ranked doubles team of Lucas Brown and Timo Legout got a 6-4 win over No. 19 Krish Arora and Christophe Clement.

In singles action, the Yellow Jackets were unable to stop the Longhorns’ momentum, eventually dropping three singles matches, and falling 0-4 in the championship match.

No. 90 ranked Nate Bonetto faced Legout, who is ranked No. 3, but fell 1-6, 1-6, putting Texas up 2-0.

Branctelli took on No. 2 Sebastian Gorzny, but dropped his match 3-6, 2-6.

Sebastian Eriksson of Texas closed out the win for the Longhorns, defeating Georgia Tech’s Gianluca Carlini 6-1, 6-3.

Tech will be back in action Thursday, Jan. 30, as they welcome Georgia State to the Ken Byers Tennis Complex for a match at 4 p.m.

#1 Texas 4, Georgia Tech 0
Singles

#3 Timo Legout (TEX) def. #90 Nate Bonetto (GT) 6-1, 6-1
#2 Sebastian Gorzny (TEX) def. Gabriele Brancatelli (GT) 6-3, 6-2
Pierre-Yves Bailly (TEX) vs. Christophe Clement (GT) 6-4, 4-0, unfinished
#20 Jonah Braswell (TEX) vs. Krish Arora (GT) 7-5, 1-0, unfinished
Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) def. Gianluca Carlini (GT) 6-1, 6-3
#116 Lucas Brown (TEX) vs. Richard Biagiotti (GT) 6-3, 2-3, unfinished

Doubles

#7 Lucas Brown/Timo Legout (TEX) def. #19 Krish Arora/Christophe Clement (GT) 6-4
Sebastian Gorzny/Pierre-Yves Bailly (TEX) vs. #44 Nate Bonetto/Gianluca Carlini (GT) 6-5, unfinished
Sebastian Eriksson/Jonah Braswell (TEX) def. Gabriele Brancatelli/Robert Bauer (GT) 6-3

Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.

For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on X (@GT_MTEN), Instagram (GT_MTEN), Facebook (Georgia Tech Men’s Tennis) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com

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