| PublicationDate: 3/28/96 Summary: 1996-97 FAFSA Processing - Announcement #20 Author: ODAS - Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary - SFA Announcement # 20-- March 28, 1996 **REVISED** This is announcement number 20 in a series for financial aid administrators. For information on individual applications, parents and students should contact 319-337-5665. 1996-97 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Processing Status Report A. Status of Applications as of March 27, 1996. No./Percent. Expected FAFSA No. of Paper of Paper Apps. Date to Receipt Date Apps. Rec'd. Processed Complete =============================================== Jan 1 - Jan 31 437,675 429,189 (98%) Mar 31* Feb 1 - Feb 15 697,710 634,917 (91%) Mar 31* Feb 16 - Feb 29 881,648 545,639 (62%) Mar 31* SUBTOTAL: 2,017,033 1,609,745 (80%) Mar 1 - Mar 15 970,236 129,972 (14%) Apr 15* Mar 16 - Mar 31 486,612 17,602 (4%) TOTAL 3,473,881 1,757,319 (51%) * These reflect the date that the Department expects all paper applications with these receipt dates to have been entered and processed by the Central Processing System. B. FAFSAS HAVE NOT BEEN LOST. The Department has noticed several list postings concerning Free Applications for Federal Student Aid (FAFSAs) that were mailed from the east coast during the months of January and/or February and concerns that they may have been lost. The Department is aware that rumors and concerns on this topic are circulating in the financial aid community and among applicants. We hope that posting these regular announcements help to combat the rumors and provide you with as much information and as many facts as possible. The most recent concern appears to be coming from students and parents who may be receiving guidance from the Federal Student Aid Information Center (319-337-5665) to refile their applications. Reports from the operators at the FSAIC indicate that students and parents are very anxious to refile their FAFSAs since they have not yet received their processed Student Aid Reports (SARs). Many students and parents have asked if it is possible that their FAFSAs have been lost and have asked if they should/may refile. The Department has recently agreed that, in the case of applicants who filed with ACT in January, operators may provide guidance to refile to students and parents who indicated they mailed their FAFSAs in January. As you know from several of the announcements we have released so far, the Department has not been advising that just any student refile because of the possible implications of this action. However, we understand the concern of these parents and students and therefore want to be as sensitive to their apprehension as possible. Since approximately 98 percent of these FAFSAs have been keyed and processed, the Department feels that these applicants may escape the implications of filing a duplicate FAFSA (see Announcement 18) since their paper FAFSA is already in the system and would most likely be processed before another application would enter the system. Furthermore, while the Department can monitor those applications that have been received by our Multiple Data Entry contractors, the Department cannot guarantee that a students FAFSA was not lost in the mail. This is why in Announcement 18 the Department indicated that institutions may want to advise students applied in January to refile their applications at this time if they have not received an ISIR or a SAR. The Department understands your concerns and extends an invitation to you to express them by e-mailing Customer Support at "csb@sfa.ope.ed.gov" (without the quotes) or calling Customer Support at 1-800-433-7327. Thank you for your understanding and patience. We hope this information is helpful to you. |