TAMPA, Fla. — The FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is now available. It went through a massive overhaul last year that was intended to make the application process simpler and shorter.
“Last year, the FAFSA was completely redone. It brought the number of questions down from 108 to 36 questions,” said Jennifer Finetti, Director of Student Advocacy for ScholarshipOwl.
However, there were several issues.
“It was a very, very ugly opening,” said Jack Wallace, Director of Government and Lending Relations at Yrefy.
Last year’s version made it difficult for students whose parents don’t have Social Security numbers.
“If students’ parents did not have a Social Security number, then it glitched. So there were students who were U.S. citizens, but their parents were not, so they were having difficulty completing the form,” said Finetti.
Some of the financial aid calculations also weren’t accurate.
“The calculations they did did not account for inflation, and so the dollar amounts that people were getting in their student aid report were actually incorrect. They had to go back and reconfigure eligibility based on inflation,” said Finetti.
That delayed the entire process, causing issues with colleges being able to offer aid before students’ decision deadlines.
“Colleges got information late on each student and it also meant then that students got their financial aid offers late. In many cases, they didn’t get a financial aid offer until late April, which was really difficult because normally, college decision days are May 1," Finetti said.
She continued, "So it really sort of narrowed the window where students were able to make admission decisions while they were looking for their financial aid information."
The U.S. Department of Education made several improvements, working to fix all of those glitches on the new form this year.
“Most, if not all, that’s yet to be seen of the problems that were encountered in last year’s filling out the form are supposed to be gone this year,” said Wallace.
The DOE shared it did nearly two months of rigorous beta testing on the new form and continues to make technical updates to improve usability.
“All the feedback I’m hearing from students is they haven’t had any issues with the form. It seems to be going really well,” said Finetii.
She encourages families to complete the FAFSA as soon as possible. The sooner you submit the form, the sooner the colleges you applied to will receive your information to make you financial offers.
“The last thing we want to do is have colleges waiting to the last second to get your data. Then, students this year will be in the same boat as last year. Also in the event there are issues, the sooner you submit your FAFSA, then you’ll have more time to work out any issues you’re having,” said Finetti.
Education experts encourage everyone to complete the FAFSA, even if they don’t qualify for need-based aid.
“We haven’t been so good in Florida about filling out the FAFSA form. Particularly the class of 2024 from high school, they were off about 9% of what the class of 2023 had done… it’s very important students complete the form,” said Wallace.
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