KENNESAW, Ga. — The start of Keandre Johnson's freshman year started exactly as his mother imagined.
Their extended family helped him move in to his new dorm. He met his roommates, explored campus and attended class. But that dream quickly faded with a series of disheartening emails.
"Due to nonpayment of your tuition and fees by the published deadline of August 16, 2024 your Fall 2024 classes have been deleted," the first one read on Monday.
"To live in campus housing, you 'must be officially admitted, full-time degree-seeking and/or enrolled for credit-bearing coursework at Kennesaw State University.' According to our records, you are no longer enrolled in classes," a housing coordinator emailed on Tuesday.
The FAFSA money the Johnsons were relying on didn't disburse until Wednesday, they said.
"They want like $7,000 in cash, and it can't be paid by credit cards, so we're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place because that's the whole point of us receiving the aid," his mom Keisha Johnson told 11Alive. "I know things happen, but at the same time, it's like, hey, this happened to a lot of families."
11Alive has been reporting on delays and technical glitches that have plagued the new FAFSA process since it rolled out in late 2023.
The goal of the new process was to simplify the FAFSA form and make it easier for students to access financial aid, but according to the National College Attainment Network, about 7,000 fewer high school seniors in Georgia completed the FAFSA this year, a 9% drop from the previous year.
The data showed that nationwide, 219,000 fewer students filled out the form -- a nearly 10% drop from last year.
Now, as this fall semester begins, schools are working hard to verify and correct students’ forms. While corrections are common any year, schools can’t do batch corrections this year -- further slowing down the process.
KSU told 11Alive it is committed to supporting its students who have been impacted by the FAFSA delays.
"Students who submitted all required documents by August 1 and have not received their financial aid package due to the FAFSA delays received an extension on their payment deadline and remain enrolled at KSU," a spokesperson said.
RELATED: READ: University System of Georgia chancellor's letter to US Dept. of Education about FAFSA issues
They said additional factors could help explain some of the challenges its families are facing this year.
According to a spokesperson for the university, students who were not impacted by the FAFSA delays and had an outstanding account balance were unenrolled from their Fall 2024 classes on Aug. 26.
Other students impacted included those "who did not file a FAFSA, students who received their financial aid award package but had a remaining balance after receiving their disbursement, students who filed a FAFSA but had not submitted the required verification documents to proceed with processing, or students who submitted their FAFSA and verification documents after our deadline of August 1."
Affected students, like Keandre, received an email explaining how they could complete the reinstatement process and re-enroll in classes this semester. His mom hopes that will work.
"They're young adults, so this could break somebody's hope and cause them to not to want to come back to school," Keisha Johnson described. "I'm not worried that he's going to fall behind. I know he's a really intelligent young man; I just don't want his spark to dim."