(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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New application process for federal student aid creates time crunch [1]
['Brooklyn Draisey', 'More From Author', '- January']
Date: 2024-01-10
When Linn-Mar High School resumed classes Jan. 3, College/Career Transition Counselor Sheryl Bass already had students reaching out, concerned about issues they had accessing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Federal student aid applications are notorious for having bugs pop up immediately after opening up, Bass said, so she wasn’t surprised.
In past years students, would have been able to apply for federal aid through the FAFSA in the fall, but with changes made to the form in the hopes of making it simpler to fill out having pushed back its release, those hoping to meet priority deadlines for financial support have less time to get it done.
“In the last week or so, I’ve helped a few students complete the form and it seems like now that it’s open consistently, things are moving along okay,” Bass said. “But yes, definitely a very different timeline than we would hope for.”
The U.S. Department of Education released a soft launch of the FAFSA Dec. 31, making it available at certain times in order to monitor and fix any problems with the website or form as they are found. Now that the form is more steadily available, college counselors and financial aid advisers are encouraging students and families to fill out the FAFSA as soon as possible.
Changes to the FAFSA that constituted the delay include requiring two-step verification and an FSA ID for every person who contributes information to the form, including the student, parents or guardians and others, and data sharing between the IRS and the Department of Education. This means that all contributors who give consent will have their federal tax information added to the form by the IRS, making the form simpler and quicker for applicants. Consent is required for students to gain eligibility for federal student aid.
The Expected Family Contribution is also being replaced by the Student Aid Index (SAI), which changes what factors into calculating aid amounts. The number of family members in college is no longer part of the formula, and the SAI can go as low as negative $1,500, showing a larger range of need.
University of Iowa Director of Financial Aid Tim Bakula said the difference in the form is clear, having filled it out and seeing how much less time it took to finish.
“It’s working, but it is different for everyone involved, the families, the schools, the Department of (Education),” Bakula said. “It’s a change, and that comes with some patience needed on everyone’s part.”
For the counselors and colleges waiting for information on applicants, however, the timeline shift has caused some worries. Iowa’s three public universities have set a priority deadline for the FAFSA of Feb. 1, and Bakula said UNI, along with other schools, will start receiving FAFSA applications in late January or early February.
Colleges will now face the challenge of trying to keep their timing of awarding financial aid as close to normal as they can. Usually, UNI would begin awarding aid in February, Bakula said, but with the later launch of the form, the school’s work will probably be pushed back by a few weeks to a month, making students wait longer to see what financial support they could receive.
Meeting the priority deadline isn’t required to receive any aid, said Bass, who works in collaboration with Kirkwood Community College, said. But filing the FAFSA before that date gives the student the biggest chance of receiving the most financial support they can, she said. Depending on what is available, filing later can lead to less or no aid.
Bass and other counselors will also be receiving information from Iowa College Aid on which students have filed the FAFSA and if there’s been any errors later than in previous years.
“I’m worried that we’re going to have a lot more students who maybe missed the priority deadline then there have been in the past,” Bass said. “But we won’t know that until next month, so I’m anticipating that but still just trying to get the word out as much as possible.”
Even with the shorter time frame, Bass and Bakula both said the form has proven to be faster and simpler for applicants. Looking at the long-term, Bakula said the coming years will most likely have smoother form releases, making the whole process better than what he’s seen this year.
The most important thing students and their families can do right now is fill out the FAFSA post-haste, and reach out to their school counselors, university financial aid staff or other experts if they need help. Bass said the Iowa College Access Network has been meeting with FAFSA applicants throughout December and January in order to help them through the application process.
“I just hope that families feel like the process isn’t as scary as they thought it was, and that while there’s been problems with the application opening on time and being fully open in the first week, I think this is going to be a huge improvement and there are a lot of positives that are going to come out of this change,” Bass said.
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