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.

AUSTIN, Texas — Graduate captain Palmer Jackson was one of six golfers to shoot an opening four-under 67 and his senior teammate Angelo Marcon was among three to shoot 68 as No. 32 Notre Dame opened the 54-hole NCAA Austin Regional with a nine-under total of 275, two strokes behind leader and tourney host, No. 13 Texas.

Two Longhorns — Nathan Petronzio and Tommy Morrison — were tied with Jackson along with Michael Brennan of No. 29 Wake Forest, Bryce Lewis of No. 5 Tennessee and Kelvin Hernandez of No. 41 UNC Greensboro after Monday’s storm-interrupted first round at the par-71, 7,399-yard University of Texas Golf Club. Following the Longhorns and Fighting Irish were the Volunteers at eight-under 276, three strokes ahead of Brigham Young with Georgia fifth in the 13-team field at even-par 284.

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Jackson, Notre Dame’s No. 1 player from Murrysville in western Pennsylvania, started his round on the back nine and made the turn in five-under 31 with five birdies. Play was suspended by thunderstorms when Jackson was playing the third hole — his 12^th of the day. When play resumed, Jackson played his final six holes in one-over.

Marcon, the senior No. 4 for the Irish from San Francisco, started his round birdie-eagle-birdie on his way to a four-under 32 on the back nine. He bogeyed the eighth hole on the front to finish his round of 69.

Coach John Handrigan’s Fighting Irish also had a pair of one-under 70s from freshmen No. 2 Jacob Modleski of Noblesville and No. 5 Rocco Salvitti of Canonsburg, Pa., which left them tied for 18^th. Sophomore No. 3 Nate Stevens of Northfield, Minn., shot a two-over 73 which didn’t count toward the team score.

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Modleski, who played for 2023 state champion Guerin Catholic, shot a one-under 35 on his front nine. He started with birdies at Nos. 10, 11 and 14 before making bogeys at Nos. 15 and 18 for a one-under 35 back. He started the front with a birdie before bogeys at Nos. 7 and 8. But he closed with a birdie to close out his 70.

Salvitti also played the back nine — his first nine holes — in one-under thanks to birdies at Nos. 13 and 14. He birdied Nos. 1, 4 and 5 to offset three bogeys on his final nine holes of the day. 

Stevens, tied for 43^rd place, started his round with 10 pars. He had four bogeys but made two birdies at Nos. 3 and 9, his final hole of the day.

The tournament continued Tuesday and concludes Wednesday. The low five teams and top individual not on those team advance to the national championship May 24-29 at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S GOLF AUSTIN REGIONAL

AUSTIN, Texas – Results after Monday’s first round in the 54-hole NCAA Men’s Golf Regional played at the par-71, 7,399-yard course at the University of Texas Golf Club:

Team scores: 1. Texas 273 (-11); 2. Notre Dame 275 (-9); 3. Tennessee 276 (-8); 4. Brigham Young 279 (-5); 5. Georgia 284 (E); 6. Utah 285 (+1); 7. Arkansas State 287 (+3); 8. UNC Greensboro 288 (+4); T9. Arkansas 289 (+5); T9. Wake Forest 289 (+5); 11. Kansas City 294 (+10); 12. Grand Canyon 295 (+11); 13. San Jose State 298 (+14).

Individuals: T1. Palmer Jackson (Notre Dame), Michael Brennan (Wake Forest), Nathan Petronzio (Texas), Bryce Lewis (Tennessee), Tommy Morrison (Texas), Kelvin Hernandez (UNC Greensboro), 67.

T7. Brian Stark (Texas), Angelo Marcon (Notre Dame), Peter Kim (Brigham Young), 68.

T10. Zac Jones (Brigham Young), Jacob Shov Olesen (Arkansas), Javier Barcos (Utah), Connor Creasy (Georgia), Thomas Curry (Arkansas), Lance Simpson (Tennessee), Gustav Frimodt (Texas Christian), Luke Gutschewski (Iowa State), 69.

Notre Dame scores: T1. Palmer Jackson 68; T7. Angelo Marcon 69; T18. Jacob Modleski and Rocco Salvitti 70; T43. Nate Stevens 73.