LSAC, FAFSA Delay Update:

The Department of Education has announced a delay in processing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. It plans to send schools FAFSA data for individual students beginning in mid-March. This extraordinary delay is approximately five months behind a typical year’s schedule, so it will impact both students and schools.

What This Means for Law Schools

• Schools require the FAFSA to determine your eligibility for federal student financial aid. This includes Federal Direct Loans and Federal Grad PLUS Loans.
• This nationwide challenge is affecting all undergraduate and graduate programs, so the financial aid offices will be balancing their efforts across student populations, including law.
• School computer systems require updates and testing before they are ready to issue financial aid offers. Once the first batches of FAFSA data are received, it will likely be several weeks before the first financial aid offers are provided to students.

What This Means for Law School Applicants

• Official financial aid notifications will be delayed — some schools may provide estimates, but this will not be the norm.
• You should bookmark the financial aid pages for your target schools and check the pages periodically for school-specific updates.
• As the FAFSA rollout occurs, schools may adjust deadlines in response.
• As things unfold, schools will communicate any changes to you, likely by email, so it is important to make sure you are checking your messages.