AMHERST, N.Y. (WKBW) — On a sunny day at Daemen University, Richard Condon and his family toured what could be his next school of choice.
"It's an exciting time. I'm planning out my whole future so I'm enjoying it a lot," Condon said. "Right now, I'm considering cytotechnology here at Daemen but I'm also considering pharmacy or even a major in biochem."
But with college comes the FAFSA form — a common pain point for parents and students alike. The Department of Education recently announced the information families provide on the FAFSA forms won't be given to colleges until around March. That means students will have to wait even longer to learn what aid they'll get from schools.
Daemen's Director of Financial Aid, Jeff Pagano, said typically around this time of year — 1,000 students would have received their financial aid package. Now, the office has to wait before sending that out.
"This is very unique this year, especially for our new prospective students who are trying to make decisions on whether you're going to attend obviously, this delay is making that much more difficult," Pagano said. "Once we do start to receive that information, that it's our priority to turn these around very quickly."
So that's why the university is extending the deposit deadline from May 1 to June 1.
Mimi Steadman, Daemen's Interim Vice President for Enrollment Marketing and Communications, said she hopes the extension alleviates worries for families.
"We really want families to have the time to compare the aid they're getting to think about what makes sense what their family's budget," Steadman said.
At Buffalo State University — the deposit deadline has also moved to June 1. But Vice President of Enrollment Management, Dr. Randyll Bowen, said this delay in receiving financial aid reports puts more pressure on his office.
"We're taking about six or seven months worth of work and pushing it into about six or seven weeks," Bowen said. "The biggest impact with FAFSA right now is the fact that it's hurting the students that it was trying to help the most."
Bowen said his team will do the best job they can to work with every family going through this.
Meantime, Condon and his parents are waiting for all of his financial aid packages to come in to make the best decision.
"I'm taking this week to get a feel for Daemen, you know, see what life's like here," Condon said.
