DES MOINES, Iowa — Experts say this year’s FAFSA application cycle may be another stressful one.

Last year, the Department of Education released a new FAFSA application with the goal of simplifying the application process. They consolidated the application from 108 questions to 40 questions, but it caused stress for students and colleges in Iowa and across the country.

“FAFSA simplification became FAFSA stressfulness,” said Jack Wallace, the director of Yrefy, a company that refinances private student loans.

Wallace has followed updates with the FAFSA application for the past year and was in Washington D.C. earlier this month when the Government Accountability Office testified to the House Subcommittee on Higher Education.

According to Wallace, 20% of the glitches from last year’s FAFSA have not been fixed. This is one of the reasons why the application was delayed again this year. There are also four rounds of beta testing taking place before the application is released. As of early October, they are currently in the second round of testing.

This year’s application is projected to be available starting December 1st, but Wallace expects the application to be pushed back.

Last year’s delayed timeline was another stressor for students for two main reasons. First, more students were accessing the site during a shorter window of time. This resulted in several site crashes. Last year’s application was released on New Year’s Eve and, according to Wallace, crashed nationwide after only one hour.

Another challenge resulting from last year’s delayed start date is that colleges had to delay sending financial aid packages to students because they had to wait longer to receive necessary documents from the Department of Education.

This year’s delayed timeline may likely also cause these same setbacks.

Last May, a school counselor at Lincoln High School said problems associated with the new FAFSA application were the main reason fewer Lincoln High School students filled out the application and fewer students committed to college. The counselor also said many students chose to take a gap year to avoid the trouble with FAFSA, but it’s likely last year’s troubles are still sticking around.

Wallace said, statistically, the chances of someone going back to school or finishing a degree after a two-year gap aren’t good, so he recommends enduring this year’s experience.

He also said that the number of high school seniors who filled out the FAFSA application last year dropped and that Iowa is now ranked 30th in the nation for FAFSA completion.

Wallace said the best thing students can do is be patient. According to him, the GAO also revealed in the hearing that the Department of Education didn’t answer 75% of phone calls made during last year’s application cycle.

Students and parents/guardians are encouraged to create an FSA account right now. The accounts are necessary to complete a FAFSA application and they have to be confirmed by the Department of Education before an application can be completed. Wallace advises that if the accounts are created now, it will allow the student to complete the FAFSA as soon as the application is available, instead of having to wait for confirmation.