By james art The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships (OFAS) resumed virtual appointments following continued delays in 2024-2025 financial aid offers on October 28.
As a result of financial aid delays, OFAS extended the original fee deadline from Sept. 16 to Oct. 18 for financial aid recipients in an email, saying that recipients will not lose their classes or housing as a result.
OFAS released an email on Oct. 27 stating that students with questions about their financial aid status can schedule online appointments with staff members. The office will release new virtual appointment slots for the following week at 5:00 PM every Friday.
In addition to online appointments, OFAS customer service hours – including phone and in-person appointments – will run from 9am to 4pm, Monday through Friday.
From September to early October, students attending OFAS experienced longer wait times as the office received more calls after financial award letters were delayed in August.
Marissa Martin is a third-year psychology major who called the Financial Aid Office several times before losing contact.
“The longest I waited was almost three hours. It was kind of frustrating because sometimes I lose connection as well. I left a callback function once, but I didn’t get a callback,” Marin told New University.
Some students who called the financial aid office reported that they had long lines of several hours and did not receive callbacks from the OFAS callback feature, which contacts students after some time.
UCI alumna and current UCI post-baccalaureate student Jasmine Vargas talks about the impact of financial aid delays on students.
“When I was a student, I depended on this financial aid for everything: my apartment, my tuition, everything related to being on campus because my parents couldn’t afford it [any] of it,” Vargas told New University. “If I was in that situation and if it wasn’t covered [by financial aid]I personally had to give up.”
OFAS released a statement on September 3 to address the ongoing delays in student aid packages, saying it would “assist with any questions or concerns.”
Jenna Tai, a first-year biological sciences major, said she paid the extended term fee in October.
“I ended up paying $1,000 more than I expected because of the financial aid,” Tai said. “It was honestly stressing me out because a lot of my friends and I weren’t getting our financial aid and the extended deadline was coming up as well.”
The UC Irvine grant is awarded by the Regents of the University of California and the State of California. The grant is automatically awarded to students based on financial need and what they submit on their Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or California Dream Act forms.
The UCI grant is now divided into three grant categories: UCI grant, USHIP and Anteater grant. Students will receive one or more scholarships depending on their eligibility for financial aid.
OFAS began experiencing delays after the FAFSA issued a new form that was pushed back to late December 2023.
Under the new FAFSA Simplification Act, the 2024-2025 FAFSA form replaced the expected family contribution with the Student Aid Index (SAI) to determine whether students qualify for Federal Pell Grants and Extended Grant recipients.
Colleges received student financial information in March instead of the usual January period due to a miscalculation of the SAI tables to account for inflation.
OFAS is using an alternate method to pay student refunds originally scheduled for Sept. 19 after encountering “continued systemic challenges,” according to an email sent Sept. 20. They said students can expect refunds in a week, but also longer delays due to bank processing and mailing times.
Maria Diaz, a first-year criminology major, completed her FAFSA form during her senior year of high school. Diaz had to consider her options between different schools and the possibility of living on campus.
“Me [didn’t] you want to choose a school and [have it] it costs a lot and my parents have to deal with it. Diaz told New University. “It was stressful dealing with it then too [decided on] commute to work or live there.’
In September, OFAS extended its hours for several weekends from 10 am to 2 pm to assist UCI students with financial aid disbursement delays and aid award letters.
OFAS is currently working to fix ongoing issues with its online system that provides financial aid notifications and award letters.
“I think it was mostly a bad circumstance. I think during a regular school year, if there weren’t all these changes to the system, it would run a lot smoother, more people would get their financial aid on time and things like that. So I feel like they’re doing the best they can with the workforce they have right now,” Tai said.
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Katherine Nava is a news contributor. She can be reached at [email protected].