Frustrations with FAFSA Linger as Groups Rush to Get Students to Apply

It’s been three months since Sami Saeed filled out a federal financial aid application. And for three months, the senior at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Md., has waited to fix an error in his form. Somehow, when Saeed’s parents submitted their portion of the application, it was automatically submitted without his signature. So as acceptance letters rolled in for him from the University of Maryland in College Park and George Washington University, neither college could tell Saeed how much aid he might receive without a completed financial aid form. It was mid-April before Saeed was finally able to correct and finish his application.
Now, he has trading one waiting period for another — biding his time until financial aid offers arrive.