TAMPA, Fla. — The FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, went through a massive overhaul that was intended to make the application process simpler, more streamlined, and shorter.
“Right now we are slightly behind in the number of students from a year ago that are applying,” said Chuck Tiernan, Director of LEAP Tampa Bay.
Ever since the rollout of the new form in December, students have reported multiple issues.
“When you’re revamping an entire government process, certainly there’s been kinks, and that has slowed down the number of students this summer and the Class of 2024 that have applied for FAFSA,” said Tiernan.
Students have experienced several problems logging in, accessing parts of the form, and submitting it.
“Then, after that, when they were able to complete their application, it took a while for the colleges to be receiving their data. And then even after that, FAFSA said, 'hold on, wait, we forgot something, we forgot to adjust our calculation for inflation, so any data we sent has to be reprocessed,'” said Jennifer Finetti, Director of Student Advocacy for ScholarshipOwl.
Each mistake has added delays in receiving financial aid offers and prevented some students from making college acceptance decisions.
“That also makes it more challenging for the colleges who are trying to figure out how many students will actually enroll. So it has been difficult all the way around,” said Finetti.
“If something seems off-kilter, that’s a reason to call the financial aid office and say, 'Hey, this is not what I was expecting. I’m wondering if maybe I entered something incorrectly on the new FAFSA. Or maybe something else is going on.' It’s a brand new FAFSA. There could still be other unknown issues that have to be worked out,” she added.
Experts believe these issues have caused fewer students to apply for aid.
“That means there’s Pell Grant money, there’s work-study money. Things you don’t have to pay back that are going to get left on the table if these students don’t jump in and apply,” said Tiernan.
“The folks that need it the most are often the last ones to get in. We find that we regularly leave millions of dollars on the table,” he added.
The deadline to apply for federal aid for the 2023-2024 school year is June 30, 2024.
The deadline to apply for federal aid for the 2024-2025 school year is June 30, 2025.
LEAP Tampa Bay is putting on two events to help students and families complete the FAFSA. LEAP Tampa Bay is a collection of community partners connecting people to education and training opportunities beyond high school.
- Saturday, June 22
- 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- St. Petersburg College Midtown Center: 1048 22nd St. N, St. Petersburg
- Saturday, June 29
- 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- USF Education Building, 4110 USF Apple Dr., Tampa
“We’re trying to make it a family fun experience full of food. We’re going to have artists for face painting. We’re going to have some balloon twisting. We’re going to have a DJ, so there’s going to be music as well as financial aid experts. If you have questions and you’re unsure, or you’re stuck on any part of your FAFSA, there will be people there to help you,” said Jerrica Peets, program manager for LEAP Tampa Bay.
“There’s always a lot of questions about the FAFSA even before the simplification process. So this is an opportunity for you to really get to sit down with a financial aid expert that you might not have access to without these events,” she added.
