Some Cal State students got financial aid decisions a lot later this year. Here’s why

Just days before the start of school, some California State University students were still waiting to find out how much they’re getting in grants and loans, and university officials are blaming the federal government for those delays. But despite a flurry of social media complaints about the delays, student leaders and university officials point to no major abnormalities

Every summer brings fresh confusion to some students whose financial aid is less than they anticipated or who didn’t notice an important email, but this summer added a new hardship: Not knowing how much actual aid they’d get.

The culprit is a change implemented in April by the U.S. Office of Federal Student Aid to update its fraud protections. The move was in response to the 2025 Republican-approved One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Some universities, including Cal State, received federal files on how much aid students would receive five to six weeks later than usual.

The delay meant that an unknown number of students got their precise financial aid amounts mere weeks before the start of the school year. Some students didn’t find out what their aid amounts were until after the deadline to pay tuition. Cal State campuses had provisions in place to keep students enrolled who didn’t pay if their financial aid awards were pending.

That this occurred in the middle of the financial aid cycle “is very unusual,” said April Grommo, an assistant vice chancellor for strategic enrollment management at the California State University Chancellor’s Office.

The delay in receiving information about aid amounts is separate from actually getting federal grants and loans. Federal rules prohibit students from receiving their actual financial aid until within 10 days of the start of the school year. Cal State classes begin this month.

The student experience

A handful of users of the social media tool Reddit posted about their FAFSA delays at Cal State. One user from Cal State Fullerton wrote on Aug. 1 that “I'm very concerned because the semester begins the 22nd of August … and I do not want to be dropped from any courses.” Other redditors at Fullerton echoed that worry. Similar posts were found at subreddits for San Jose State, Cal State Long Beach and Cal State Northridge.

The delay didn’t affect students who applied using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, by the state’s priority deadline of March 2, Grommo said.

But the sheer volume of aid going to students at Cal State is immense — some $5.5 billion was   disbursed last year to more than 385,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Campus financial aid employees worked overtime to compensate for the federal delays, Grommo said. Several Cal State schools are shortstaffed, compounding the delay in getting information to students.

Another change in the 2025 federal law placed lower caps on how much students and their parents could borrow for college. Those caps went into effect this year, likely catching off guard some students who relied on loans. Still, some 65% of undergraduates who earn a bachelor’s degree at Cal State graduate without loan debt.

The system’s undergraduate student government, the California State Student Association, hasn’t detected a major uptick in student complications, despite the confusion, said Joe Nino, the association’s executive director. “At this time, CSSA is not aware of this being a widespread issue,” he wrote by email. “To our knowledge, there are protections in place to ensure students won't be dropped from their classes due to FAFSA delays.”

Sydney Yee is the vice president of Cal State Fullerton’s student government. The rising senior and finance major said the student government office hadn’t received any complaints from students about nonresponsive campus officials. She too had questions about her financial aid package and called the school’s financial aid office over the summer to receive guidance she found useful.

Redditors also advised frustrated students to call their campus financial aid office and be persistent.

“Something I think that the financial aid (staff) has done very well here has been staying very proactive with these delays,” Yee said in an interview, pointing to explanatory emails as well as Instagram posts that explained why some students received dropped course notifications on their accounts and why those holds were lifted.

Grommo explained that the notification was meant to give students peace of mind. If the drop hold was lifted and they’re still enrolled, that means the campus concluded the student is in good financial standing.

Jessicca Barco, associate vice president for strategic enrollment management at Cal State Fullerton, added that normally returning students would learn their financial aid amounts between May and June. The information is provided near the end of the academic year to ensure students meet federal grade requirements to continue receiving aid. The federal delay meant some 23,000 returning students received their aid information last Friday. The campus moved back the deadline to pay for tuition to Aug. 19, Barco added. For many students it’s typically in mid-July.

Reasons for getting financial aid late

As for why some students may get their federal financial aid late — some students in the past received theirs as late as October — Grommo cited several factors.

One may be that those students applied for financial aid well into summer rather than in late winter. Another may be that they were selected to undergo an audit of their family finances to ensure they’re eligible for financial aid. Or their grades are too low to continue receiving aid and they must appeal to the school to restore their eligibility. Other students may experience a sudden loss of personal or family finances that isn’t captured in the income data they filed in their aid applications.

“The majority of students go through the process just fine, but of course, the small group that does not go through the process fine, those are the really major issues,” Grommo said.

Her advice to students: Make sure their school email account is set up in case the campus is only emailing them there rather than their personal account and to keep calling their school’s financial aid office.

Cal State Fullerton students got their financial aid disbursements Wednesday.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.