Students Frustrated With 2024 FAFSA Application Not Working
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Current and prospective college students are growing frustrated with the new 2024-25 FASA financial aid application not working online that was launched by the U.S. Department of Education.
When applicants go onto the U.S. Department of Education’s financial aid website StudentAid.gov, the following message often appears:
“Sorry, StudentAid.gov is currently unavailable. We’re working on fixing it! Thanks for your patience.”
“During the soft launch, the FAFSA form will be available for short periods of time while we monitor site performance and form functionality. We will initiate pauses for site maintenance and to make technical updates as needed to provide you with a better experience,” the Department noted.
Many applicants for student financial aid are taking to Twitter under the hashtag #FAFSA to vent their frustration.
” this FAFSA soft launch…am I just supposed to sit here & refresh the page every 10 minutes??? Some of us have to work,” one applicant tweeted.
“So #FAFSA isn’t even open yet? Contacted customer service after being on hold and not being able to log in. “Currently just a soft launch. Check back every few hours.” What a mess, tweeted another applicant.
So #FAFSA isn’t even open yet? Contacted customer service after being on hold and not being able to log in. “Currently just a soft launch. Check back every few hours.” What a mess.
The 2024 FAFSA was launched on December 31, 2023, three months later than the usual date of October 1 because of changes to streamline the financial aid application.
“The new FAFSA form will significantly improve, streamline, and redesign how students and their families use the form, the U.S. Department of Education stated in a FAFSA update.
“For the first time, applicants will be able to securely transfer their federal tax information necessary for the eligibility calculation, directly from the IRS, removing the burdensome and confusing step of connecting to the IRS Data Retrieval Tool for almost 9 million applicants using the tool each year.”
“We expect applications to peak in late January and February 2024,” the Department of Education added.