A workaround for a glitch in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will allow Texas students with immigrant, non-citizen parents to apply for financial aid from colleges before the March deadline, officials said.
Since the latest version of the online federal financial aid form launched in December, parents without a Social Security number have been unable to add financial information to fill out the FAFSA.
However, the U.S. Department of Education has introduced a temporary workaround that will allow students facing looming college deadlines to submit an incomplete FAFSA online without a parent’s signature.
The Texas Tribune reports that these students will receive an email confirming that they have submitted the FAFSA and can share it with colleges to meet the deadline.
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The Department of Education has rolled out a FAFSA workaround for immigrants. (Jenna Watson/IndyStar via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
The Ministry of Education said the fix is expected to be completed by the first half of March.
Students who originally submitted an incomplete version of the form must then go back and have a parent add their signature or risk ultimately having their FAFSA rejected.
The state’s priority deadline for financial aid applications is March 15.
Students may submit an incomplete version of the FAFSA form to meet the deadline. (Jenna Watson/IndyStar via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
Through an analysis of census data, the left-leaning think tank Every Texan estimates that one in four children in Texas has at least one parent who is not a U.S. citizen. These parents often don’t have a Social Security number.
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The left-leaning think tank estimates that one in four children in Texas has at least one parent who is not a U.S. citizen. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)
The FAFSA is considered the best option for approximately 1.6 million Texas college students to access federal, state, and school aid and scholarships. The federal government’s decision to roll out a temporary workaround marks the first public acknowledgment by the Department of Education of the glitch and its impact on immigrant households.
But some immigration advocates who spoke to the Tribune found the workaround confusing and cumbersome.
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Should Texas college counselors evaluate each case of students with noncitizen parents and then wait to file the FAFSA until the glitches are fixed, or should they use a workaround, according to the Tribune? He says he is giving advice.
