FAFSA Fiasco Changed Composition of First-Year Classes at Most Private Colleges

Nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of private nonprofit colleges said that the federal-aid crisis changed the composition of their incoming classes this fall, according to the results of a new survey released on Friday. Nearly half (49 percent) of respondents indicated that problems with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, made their freshman class “more difficult to fill.”

The findings come from the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU). Its survey, which includes responses from 251 institutions, or roughly 15 percent of the organization’s membership, provides a snapshot of how the FAFSA crisis affected enrollment and financial-aid outcomes following months of processing delays, technical glitches, faulty federal data, and coast-to-coast frustrations.