After a recent change in both the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid’s systems, some Temple students have been unable to register for classes this year after not receiving state grants through the PHEAA.
FAFSA’s application helps to advise PHEAA on how much aid each student should receive based on a variety of factors like tuition prices, living expenses and disability-related costs.
The FAFSA Simplification Act was introduced for the 2024-25 school year. Despite being initiated in 2022, there have been issues with the implementation of application process changes in individual states, including Pennsylvania.
“This year was like no other because of the FAFSA changes,” a university spokesperson told The Temple News. “In addition to those FAFSA changes, PHEAA was also modernizing their systems and implementing a new platform called GrantUs.”
GrantUs is PHEAA’s new portal for accessing Pennsylvania state grant information. The system aims to make application processes more efficient, update award processing and centralize PHEAA systems used for program administration, according to PHEAA’s website.
Although there is not an exact date when students should expect to receive their loans, the university spokesperson said Temple has been told by PHEAA that there will be a significant update coming this week.
The university reported that a lack of timely communication from PHEAA has worsened the situation. Further complications arose because schools across Pennsylvania were not informed about the scope of issues with the state grant delays until August, the spokesperson said.
While the university said it has been in contact with PHEAA regarding this issue, Alysha Delgado reported that she has had minimal contact with PHEAA regarding the state grant that she has not yet received.
Delgado, a senior music education major, said she has only been contacted through Temple regarding the situation but has not received any communication from PHEAA on a statewide basis. She only found out information by reaching out to PHEAA herself.
Delgado was granted a $3,000 scholarship from Temple’s Boyer College of Music and Dance. Without the scholarship, she would not have been able to register for her final semester of classes, she said.
“Registration just came out,” Delgado said. “I would not be able to do anything with that because I would have a hold on my account and they can’t take the hold off until you pay the amount that is due.”
Many students, including Delgado, are struggling to pay Temple the money they were promised through PHEAA, she added.
“I’m struggling to try and get food because all of my money has gone to Temple and to Temple loans because I thought I was going to get that PA state grant,” Delgado said.
Approximately 3 in 5 college students experience basic needs insecurity when it comes to food or housing, according to a 2023-24 survey by The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs.
Nadya Belyavsky is a married mother attending her senior year at Temple. She described the “overwhelming” process of finding funds to pay back the money the state grant was supposed to cover.
“My husband and I, we decided that we should be able to pay the tuition for the semester over several months,” said Belyavsky, a senior finance major. “That’s why I didn’t take out a loan this time.”
Belyavsky had to open a separate credit card to pay for tuition fees and had to register late for next semester’s classes due to the hold on her account.
Amid the confusion with the state grant, Delgado believes Temple should be more flexible with allowing students to register for classes while their grant processes.
“I think that Temple could be a lot more lenient on the registration policies, especially because of this,” Delgado said. “The student financial services, they are aware this is going on and the only way to get in contact with them is through calling them or going in person.”
Delgado said her main concern is for her fellow students who still cannot register for classes.
“It’s just aggravating because Temple keeps saying, ‘You’re just going to have to wait until your grant comes in to register,’ but at that point we’re not registering for the classes we want,” Delgado said. “We’re registering for the classes we have to.”
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