FAFSA deadline extended to May 2

Gavin Newsom signed a new California law that extends the FAFSA application deadline to May 2. Signed on March 25, 2024 Assembly Bill 1887 extends the deadline for financial aid programs, including Cal Grant and Middle Class Scholarship from April 2 to May 2.

AB 1887 was passed unanimously by the California State Assembly on March 21, 2024. The law was written by Sabrina Cervantes (D- Riverside), chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, to address inequality in the federal student aid application.

“The bill is a response to the ongoing implementation issues with the Federal Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which has left many California students unable to apply for financial aid and wreaked havoc on the enrollment timeline for colleges and universities” according to a press release from the California State Assembly.

Peggy Metzger, the Department Chair of the Financial Aid & Executive Director Enrollment Management at Cal Poly Humboldt updated El Leñador on their progress for student aid applications. They have received applications and are in the process of packaging students financial aid based on completed applications.

“We have begun receiving FAFSA’s from The Department of Education, that part has happened, we’re still just testing them, we don’t have all of them yet. We’re still working through, we are going to be packaging as soon as we can. We are not gonna wait till after May 2nd to package, unless we have to unless we can’t get there,” said Metzger.

Whether you turned it in in January or March the school is still going through the applicants and putting together financial aid packages. The Financial Aid office is encouraging students to not wait till the deadline and get it in as soon as they can to meet those priority deadlines.