Students in the graduating class of 2024 are off to a slow start in the college application process as they work through the most recent changes made to the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA application is one of the most widely used tools to access student aid, and opens up opportunities to receive everything from grants and scholarships to work-study funds and loans from federal, state, and school sources.
A new and updated version of the 2024-25 FAFSA launched in December, two months after it’s usual availability on October 1. The delayed launch also means that students will receive their financial aid offers later than anticipated.
The U.S. Department of Education announced on January 30 that it will not be transmitting FAFSA results to schools until early March, leaving students with only limited time to choose what college they want to go to before critical deadlines.
Suttons Bay Public School Guidance Counselor Meredith Schmidt helps students every year finish their FAFSA and other college applications. She said this delay is frustrating because many students base their college decisions at least partially on finances.
“In past years, students would submit their FAFSA information in October, receive award letters shortly after the holidays, and have some time before sending the May 1 deposit to the college of their choice,” Schmidt said. “This year, the deadlines have been pushed back so far that students may be receiving award letters a week or two before that May 1 deadline. Students may be expected to make very quick decisions about their attendance next year, and these are really important decisions that shouldn’t be rushed.”
The new FAFSA was first launched to “significantly, improve, streamline, and redesign” how students and families use the form. It simplifies the process of submitting tax information for as many as four million additional students and families, giving approximately 610,000 more students from low income backgrounds the chance to receive Pell grants. In addition, it will allow 1.5 million more students access to the maximum Pell grant award, which brings the total number of students eligible for the grant to over 5.2 million.
Other changes to the application this year include adding “contributors” to provide information. The new term refers to anyone who’s asked to provide their information (like biological or legal adoptive parents), consent and approval to have their federal tax information transferred automatically from the IRS into the FAFSA form. The online form will specify who is considered a “contributor” based on the applicant’s answers.
Schmidt said about half of the 34 Suttons Bay seniors are currently working on their FAFSA forms at this point. These students would normally begin the FAFSA process in October, but due to federal changes, they were not able to begin their forms until late December.
The new form also has had some hiccups in the launch, with Schmidt noting that she’s called the FAFSA help desk with multiple students who have not been able to create their accounts online.
“Initially, the biggest challenge was accessing the new FAFSA format. Parents and students both make accounts which require two-factor authentication,” Schmidt said. “Many of our families had trouble with the links not sending to the student or parent. The most frustrating thing for us was that when we tried to call for help, there were no available representatives to take our calls, or the person answering the phone was not able to help. Once families were able to access their FAFSA, the process was fine, but it took some families a couple of weeks just to create their accounts.”
Suttons Bay School senior Isabel Schmidt, who hopes to attend Grand Valley State University, began filling out her FAFSA on Monday and was able to finish it in about 30 minutes. While Schmidt said she’s heard of other classmates encountering setbacks like getting locked out of the FAFSA application, she had an easy time getting through the process.
“It’s pretty important for me to have financial aid because I wouldn’t be able to get through college in the way I want to. I don’t want to have a bunch of loans that will gain interest and become difficult for me to pay in the future,” Schmidt said. “... I know as the deadline approaches, they (deadlines) will weigh more on my mind. Perhaps when I have to commit to my school, and just figure all that out.”
Glen Lake Community Schools high school counselor Keltie Palmer said she expects over half of their seniors to complete FAFSA this year. The school typically tries to pair with Northwestern Michigan College and offer a FAFSA workshop for seniors and parents in the fall after the October 1st opening date. However, due to the delay, they’ve had to push that workshop back to March 4 under the advice of NMC.
Despite the workshop delay, she said they were able to work with students to complete the first step of the process and create their FSA ID at school back in October 2023, but most kids will work on the application at home.
Palmer said students not knowing what type of financial aid packages their top schools will offer has had a big impact on them. In some cases, she said students may have already received acceptances, but have to wait to decide where they’ll attend due to not knowing what they can expect to receive in aid.
“Unfortunately, the cost of attending higher education is a huge obstacle for most students,” Palmer said. “Without knowing what types of scholarships and grants their schools of choice can provide, it’s really difficult to make a decision of where they want to attend. Seniors have enough on their brains leading up to graduation and making that transition from high school into adulthood. Adding the additional stress of not knowing if they can attend their dream school because of financial reasons has been difficult to help students navigate.”
