West Virginia lawmakers approve funding to support students due to FAFSA delays

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia students struggling to figure out how to pay for college in one of the nation’s poorest states after the botched rollout of a new federal student aid application could get help under a bill headed to Gov. Jim Justice.

State lawmakers approved $83 million for higher education — including $51 million for grants to help students pay tuition — during a special session that ended Tuesday.

The state’s colleges and universities have seen a 26% reduction in applications, which Republican Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo called “dramatic and devastating.”

West Virginia lawmakers also voted to provide $183 million to the state agency tasked with caring for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, but not until after considerable debate about how it should be accessed and used.

The special session dealing with funds supporting some of the most vulnerable groups in West Virginia, where 1 in 4 children live in poverty. Justice last month declared a state of emergency that allows students to receive state scholarships without having their Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly known as FAFSA, processed by the federal government.

Students applying for college have been left in limbo as they await changes to FAFSA, which is used to determine eligibility for federal Pell Grants. The update was meant to simplify the form but took months longer than expected. That has left colleges with less time to make financial aid offers and students with less time to decide where to enroll.

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