Over half of the graduating students at Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women don’t know where they’re going to college — because they’re still waiting to hear about financial aid.
Delays and errors in this year’s FAFSA form are forcing students to either choose their college without knowing if they can afford it, or wait even longer to make a decision. Director of Career and College Success Alyssia Jacobs said over 60 colleges have still not released financial aid packages.
“And that made May 1, national decision day, really hard for our girls because they don't have packages to make informed decisions,” Jacobs said. “We want our girls to be able to know the costs – housing costs, tuition costs, and what are you getting for money from the federal government, from Maryland state, from scholarships.Without the FAFSA, you don't have any of that.”
But these setbacks didn’t stop leaders at the Baltimore Leadership School from carrying out their traditions. The May 10 signing day celebration just looked a little different, Jacobs said.
“We're not able to announce all the girls’ decisions because we don't have them,” she said. Instead, the school decided to honor students’ resilience.
“The current seniors have gone through a lot, because when they were eighth graders, they were in COVID,” Jacobs said. “So all these pivotal milestones that they would have had if COVID never happened and FAFSA never happened, it's always been robbed from them.”
At the signing ceremony Friday, family members and younger students packed auditorium stands, waving pom-poms as school leaders shouted-out seniors’ accomplishments – like how many college acceptances they received, and their success in extracurriculars.
School administrators passed out care packages with custom T-shirts and stickers.
“We want this day to still feel like, ‘Oh my gosh, I've worked really hard for the last 12 years to get here,’” Jacobs said.
Students said they felt the love and pride in the room. And some of them made their college decisions anyway, even without knowing the financial aid they’ll receive.
Braziah Murphy and Arame Thiandoum are both attending Delaware State University in the fall — but neither one of them knows how much it’ll cost.
“I feel like we were being pressured to hurry up and make a decision, even though we didn't have our packages back,” Thianduom said. “And I couldn't make a decision without knowing how much money I had to pay out of pocket.”
She said her mom texts her every day to ask if she’s received the word on financial aid.
“And I check my email every day,” Murphy added.
Both are hoping the final bill amount won’t be a barrier. But for now, all they can do is wait.
