Despite Federal Aid Backlog, Colleges Retain Deadline

By Jeanne Ponessa

Although delays in the processing of federal student-aid forms are causing headaches for colleges, a new survey has found that fewer than a quarter of admissions officials want to push back the traditional date by which students must accept or decline a school's offer to enroll, which includes a financial-aid offer.

According to the Alexandria, Va.-based National Association for College Admission Counseling, only 23 percent of its surveyed members favor pushing back the May 1 deadline, while 32 percent want to commit to that date and 43 percent called for holding off on making a decision.

"What the survey told us is our members are extremely reluctant to move May 1," said Kevin D. Keeley,...