The FAFSA crisis casts cloud of uncertainty over Pittsburgh high schoolers, universities

Layla Johnson and counselor Brendan Coyne in his office at Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts 6-12 on May 6th, 2024. (Photo by Benjamin Brady/Public Source) A revamped financial aid application process was supposed to smoothen the college enrollment process. A glitchy rollout this year has instead left many in the dark about their funding options. & by Emma Foltz, PublicSource After graduating from Pittsburgh Public Schools this spring, senior Layla Johnson plans to become the first in her family to attend college. She’s already committed to Howard University, a historically Black research university, but she did so before receiving the financial aid offer that would tell her how much she’ll need to pay to attend.& Johnson was only beginning to receive aid offers from other colleges as of early May, she said at the time, and felt she was “running out of time” to decide where to enroll based on her financial needs. In the middle of that uncertainty, she knew she really liked Howard, so she put down a& deposit& to reserve her spot in the incoming class.& She was “kind of OK” with the estimated net price that a& calculator& on the university’s website gave her. But, “I’m...