The U.S. Department of Education announced this week that student data for federal financial aid will be delayed until March, meaning students won’t get their financial aid packages from colleges until early April, writes Susan Snyder for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The delay shortens the time students can reply to colleges about enrolling by the traditional May 1 decision deadline.

Financial aid and college access organizations are asking colleges to be flexible with their enrollment deadlines.

Widener University has already announced it is suspending its May 1 deadline while it waits for more information from the Department of Education.

Francesca Reed, vice president for enrollment management and marketing at Neumann University in Aston, said the announcement “just kind of furthers the agony.”

FAFSA forms got to families late in December instead of Oct. 1 because tables showing a family’s income and assets were adjusted to include inflation-adjusted amounts, Reed said.

That makes more students eligible for federal financial aid, but it also means colleges won’t get the FAFSA information until the middle of March and won’t get financial aid offers to students until early April, just a few weeks before students have to decide on enrolling.

She urges families to be patient.

“We’re all in the same boat, and so it’s really important for families to continue to communicate with the colleges that they are working with.”

Find out more about what families can do to weather this financial aid delay in The Philadelphia Inquirer.