The Federal Student Aid agency apologized early Wednesday morning after a tweet from its official account late Tuesday night seemed to mock students who apply for financial aid.
The @FAFSA tweet read "If this is you, then you better fill out your FAFSA: fafsa.gov," accompanied by a image from the movie "Bridesmaids" with the caption "Help me. I'm poor." In the scene depicted, which has become a popular meme, Kristen Wiig's heavily intoxicated character tries to sneak into the first class cabin of an airplane.
The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and determines a student's eligibility to receive financial aid from the federal government.
Here's the offensive tweet, via a screenshot from Twitter's iPhone app:
The "Bridesmaids" tweet was deleted late Tuesday night and the @FAFSA twitter account sent out this apology early Wednesday morning:
We apologize for the insensitivity of our previous tweet. Our goal is to make college a reality for all. We're very sorry.
- Federal Student Aid (@FAFSA) June 25, 2014