PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, also known as FAFSA, opened up in December periodically to students with a soft launch.
As of last week, the redesigned form is now available to students 24/7, three months later than the application is usually available.
“I’m not going to say it’s glitch-free. There have been a few, you know, nuances. The program is new,” said Valerie Santos, Pinellas County Schools K-12 Guidance Services Specialist.
Although they’re still working out some kinks, the US Department of Education said that by Jan. 8, more than 1 million forms had already been submitted.
The FAFSA has been changed to make it easier and more streamlined and it's supposed to allow more students to receive aid.
The new form now has fewer questions—from 108 to 46, and has a direct link to the IRS website.
“It can be a game changer for so many students going to college, and not even just college, but technical school. There’s so much money out there that can be left on the table every year,” said Santos.
Each year, Florida students leave about $300 million on the table by not completing the FAFSA.
That’s why officials are encouraging all students to apply, regardless of their financial situation, but especially if they come from a lower-income family.
“The FAFSA is really geared to target financial aid to the most neediest families, right? So if you are a low-income student, certainly you should be able to not only submit the FAFSA, but you should also be applying to scholarships,” said Jennifer Finetti, Director of Student Advocacy for ScholarshipOwl.
“You don’t know unless you try to see what’s out there. Maybe not just in federal aid, but there’s also grad assistance, work-study. There’s other things,” said Santos.
The Pinellas County School District is hosting a FAFSA kickoff event on Saturday to help students and families navigate the changes.
It’s from 9 a.m. to noon at the Gibbs High School media center.
Staff will assist families with completing the applications.
The district will also offer free breakfast, goodie bags and door prizes.
“We wanted to make sure that with the smaller amount of time that we have to work and help families get this done, we wanted to make it big, and we wanted to make sure we were there for them to help them through the new FAFSA,” said Santos.
