WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Education recently announced it will postpone the date for sending state higher education agencies, the institutions and designated scholarship organizations the 2024-2025 Institutional Student Information Record data from the students' FAFSA until March. This is critical information and is used by the Maryland Higher Education Commission to determine financial aid eligibility.

This means the agency will not have the financial aid information required from the federal government in time to award Maryland students the Guaranteed Access Grant by the Maryland statutory deadline of April 15. This specific grant is given to students who are most in need of Maryland financial assistance.

While the Maryland Higher Education Commission is currently notifying students of the situation, Acting Secretary Dr. Sanjay Rai is working with the General Assembly to discuss options to ensure all Maryland students will receive the financial aid they are entitled to despite the federal delay.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education released a FAFSA College Support Strategy to provide additional personnel, funding, resources and technology to help schools and students complete the new FAFSA form and to help colleges prepare to process student records as quickly and accurately as possible. According to the department announcement, the FAFSA College Support Strategy will focus on lower-resourced schools that may have a smaller number of administrative staff and may utilize older software systems.  

This all comes in the wake of the department announcing that the Free Application for Student Aid wouldn't be released until December, instead of the normal Oct. 1 release date. To address that delay, and in an effort to support state students, the Maryland Higher Education Commission extended the date for students to submit their FAFSA to June 1 allowing students more time to file their FAFSA and qualify for Maryland scholarships. 

Students can now get FAFSA updates directly from the Department of Education, at fsapartners.ed.gov.