In late February, millions of high school seniors applying for federal financial aid in the U.S. received yet another shock. Typically, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) opens on Oct. 1 and information is sent to schools within a few weeks of students submitting their forms. This year, the Department of Education (DoE) created a new, simplified system and because of these changes, the department advertised a late opening date of Dec. 1. The form did not open until Dec. 31 and it was only readily available more than a week after, mere days before some colleges had their first financial aid deadlines. Once students submitted their forms, they received confirmation that their information would be sent to schools in late January. But when that time arrived, students realized this was not the case. In a broadcast email, the DoE clarified the situation. “After submitting your [FAFSA] form, you received a confirmation email stating that your FAFSA information would be shared with your selected schools in late January. However, we’re making further improvements which means we’ll start sending FAFSA information to schools in the first half of March,” the department wrote, according to College Aid Services. These setbacks have forced some schools to delay sending admitted students their financial aid information. In turn, students have to delay deciding which college they will attend. While some schools, such as those in the UC system, have pushed back the last day to submit a deposit, many others have given no indication of this, forcing students to pay deposits without knowing any of their schools’ financial aid offers. The new changes in the FAFSA no doubt made filling out the form simpler and will probably result in more aid for more students. But rather than trying to shove a new, underdeveloped system into a process already fraught with issues, the DoE should have continued working on the new FAFSA form in the background, while keeping the old one for the 2024 cycle. Then, by October, the DoE could have finished all the minor touch-ups that caused postponement now and released the new form for the 2025 cycle. This way, the process could have been simplified for students, colleges and the department itself. But the shift to the new form has already been made, delaying schools from receiving financial aid information until at least this month. Because of the delays, schools should postpone deadlines for students to commit and provide a Statement of Intent to Register. Many students weigh schools based on the amount of financial aid they will receive. Without that knowledge, students are unable to make informed choices, which drastically affects their decisions.