FAFSA Fiasco Forces Cuts at Small Colleges

Last December, Lindenwood University cut 10 of its 50 sports programs and eliminated nine nonathletic staff positions as part of a budgetary “rebalancing,” as the university called it. In order to get through the fiscal year without additional cuts, the small private college in St. Charles, Mo., needed tuition revenue to hold steady. Instead it experienced the biggest enrollment disruption since the COVID-19 pandemic. The rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid was delayed by months, and when the form debuted it was riddled with errors, setting back student completion rates and undermining colleges’ yield predictions. Lindenwood’s projected fall enrollment is also down 12 percent year over year, a decline that President John Porter attributes largely to the FAFSA woes. This month the university announced it would cut an additional 10 percent of its operating budget by the fall, starting with layoffs for another 12 staff and two faculty members.