A 2025-26 FAFSA form.
Credit: Andrew Reed / EdSource
Financial aid staff at California’s colleges and universities have a cautiously optimistic message to share this spring — but are weighing contingencies in case massive restructuring and cuts at the U.S. Department of Education upend federal aid this summer and fall.
First, the good news. Federal aid for this spring term — like Pell Grants and work-study aid — has already been disbursed. Universities are processing files from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, for next fall on schedule. And in turn, colleges are sending prospective students preview offers of grants and other support they are eligible to receive if they enroll.
But trepidation is building about what’s ahead for the hundreds of thousands of California college students receiving Pell Grants and federal loans. Layoffs that have roughly halved the U.S. Department of…
