NORTHAMPTON — A continued challenge for some prospective students and their families in accessing federal financial aid applications, and a corresponding delay in relaying the information from these forms to colleges and universities, is raising concerns about whether members of this fall’s freshmen classes will get timely information about grants, loans, scholarships and employment opportunities.

The difficulties for some in filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, simplified forms online is forcing many higher education institutions to extend their submission deadlines, especially since data from completed forms won’t start being received from the Department of Education until sometime in March.

“Making them wait longer to get financial aid creates anxiety and frustration,” says Karen Hildalgo, who chairs Northampton High School’s guidance department. “It has definitely been frustrating for our students and their families how many changes and delays there have been with FAFSA.”

It’s also something Deidre Cuffee-Gray, the college and career adviser at Amherst Regional High School, is seeing, describing the help she is offering as navigating “the FAFSA morass.”

While colleges are also frustrated, Hidalgo said, they are adapting by pushing various dates for students, including extending their financial aid deadlines.

“Some have provided tentative aid packages based on their own forms. Others have either changed decision day, traditionally May 1st, or have created an option for students to change their minds after decision day, to give students time to compare aid packages,” Hidalgo said.

At Amherst College, Matthew McGann, dean of admission and financial aid, said the office has been getting more calls this winter, many from concerned families. “The issues with FAFSA has been causing anxiety with most of the college-going population this year,” he said.

Even so, the college is preparing to release most of its admission decisions in about a month.

“We are confident that students will receive a full and complete financial aid offer,” McGann said, observing that three in five students at Amherst College, which has a need-blind admission process, receive aid from the college. “They will know the cost of attending.”

The college, like other peer institutions, uses the CSS Profile, or College Scholarship Service Profile, which it helped to develop, alongside Harvard and Wesleyan, in 1953.

Joanna May, Smith College’s vice president for enrollment, said Smith also uses the CSS Profile, making it less affected by the delay than colleges and universities that use just FAFSA to determine financial aid eligibility.

“We will use the information on the CSS Profile, along with tax returns, to make financial aid determinations, and will get financial aid packages to students on time as planned,” May said.

Still, like other colleges and universities, May said Smith College has heard from students having difficulty completing the FAFSA, and the college is doing its best to reassure them that these challenges will not affect their admission or financial aid at Smith.

Smith College has made proactive changes to the usual communication to students in an effort to decrease student anxiety, and is encouraging all students and families to contact student financial services with any questions, May said.

“We have developed standard language when replying to student inquiries, updated our website with a FAFSA message and are not listing the FAFSA requirement in our student portal or requiring it to complete a financial aid application for an initial financial read,” May said.

UMass most affected

Most affected by the FAFSA issues is the University of Massachusetts. As a public institution, the FAFSA is the only application accepted to be considered for federal need-based grants, work study and loans.

UMass spokesman Edward Blaguszewski said emails from the admissions office this week note that the university is “will inform our students of changes to any UMass deadlines.”

“If you are experiencing challenges submitting your FAFSA, please reply to this email so that we may assist you,” the correspondence states. It also says that if students fail to get the FAFSA done, it will not affect funding.

Amherst College has been able to modify its requirements, pushing the deadline for submission of a FAFSA for all first-time enrolling students until July 1. An advisory to this effect is on the college’s website.

Amherst College put together a website to update students on the FAFSA submission, recommending that current aid applicants prioritize completing all other aid documents and that, while completing and submitting FASA if possible, “FAFSA is not required for an accurate aid offer from Amherst College.”

Hidalgo said some colleges have created their own institutional aid application, listing aid award, institutional grants and scholarships, plus any state and federal aid. Hidalgo said many also have a net price calculator. But state schools are reliant on FAFSA, whereas in addition to Smith and Amherst, Mount Holyoke and Hampshire colleges also participate in CSS Profile.

FAFSA is required for all U.S. citizens and permanent resident students who accept a college’s financial aid offer so that federal money can be disbursed.