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CHARLESTON - Citing ongoing issues at the national level with the applications for federal student aid for colleges and universities, Gov. Jim Justice announced Tuesday that he is declaring a state of emergency in order to speed the delivery of state student aid.
"Today, I'm declaring a state of emergency for education in West Virginia," Justice said Tuesday afternoon during his weekly administration briefing from the State Capitol Building. "We have to find a way to bypass this FAFSA requirement that will provide eligibility to our high school kids and everything, especially in regards to their scholarships."
The U.S. Department of Education rolled out a new process for students and families to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA,) which determines what kinds of need-based federal student aid to provide for college and university attendees and how much. More than 13 million students submit FAFSAs annually, with approximately $120 billion in grants, loans, and work-study awards handed out every year.
But the rollout of the new FAFSA system has created numerous delays, with computer glitches and inaccurate information causing students and families to receive incorrect calculations for how much families are to provide towards their student's education and the amount of potential grants and loans. Richard Cordray, the chief operating officer for the Federal Student Aid program, announced last week he will step down effective at the end of June.
The FAFSA glitches are affecting every state and creating unease and concerns among students and parents, who in turn are delaying applying to public colleges and universities. In West Virginia, Justice said there has been a 40% drop in applications to in-state higher education institutions.