U. unhurt by financial aid backlog

The United States Department of Education is currently backlogged in processing 900,000 college financial aid applications. As a result of the Blizzard of '96, the federal shutdown and computer problems, DOE has not yet processed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid forms that it had received in January. The normal processing time of a FAFSA form is 14 days. But the University will only be minimally affected by DOE's backlog. Student Financial Services contracts a private organization to collect the financial information needed to compile aid packages for the incoming freshman class, Student Financial Aid Director Bill Schilling said. This is the first year that the College Scholarship Service is offering its new "profile" process to private institutions where students register for profiles, according to Associate Vice President of Finance Frank Claus. SFS has already received its first transmission from the service for the entering class, he added. "If the problem had happened last year, it would've created a very difficult problem for us," Claus said. "But fortunately,the new process is in place and working." But the profile process is used only for undergraduates and not for graduate and professional students, Schilling said. The financial aid packages for incoming graduate and professional students will be affected by the DOE backlog, since the FAFSA is the key component in determining the packages. "We expect at the moment to be delayed about a week, but no more, in the processing of our needs analysis for our graduate students," Claus said. The Department of Education is expected to be back on schedule by the end of March, he added. "When the admissions letters go out, we certainly expect the federal processing schedule to be resolved long before then," Schilling said. The FAFSA form is needed during the later stages of the financial aid process to calculate the amount of federal loans the University will offer to an incoming student. "We usually don't file for federal funds until May so the delay won't affect my office at all, assuming that the problems are solved by then," Loan Operations Director Sharon Pepe said. Universities that do not contract a private service have not been able to offer scholarships and grants to their incoming students because of the delay. "We're hearing a lot of angst from colleges," said Elizabeth Hicks, DOE deputy assistant secretary for student financial assistance programs. A hotline has been established by DOE that students and parents can call to check on the status of their financial aid forms. The Associated Press contributed to this article.