The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.
by Addison Maley
Editor-in-Chief
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) underwent serious changes for 2024-2025 applicants, expanding Federal Pell Grant eligibility using significantly fewer questions. Hilliard City Schools College Counselor Tom Woodford explains how students and parents will feel the effects of the new form.
He begins by saying that the new form is not a surprise: “they've been talking about this change for over three years, they're always trying to create opportunities for students so that it's easier. The FAFSA, the way it was 20-25 years ago, is very different than it is today. It's gotten better. 20 years ago, you had to figure out which questions pertained to you and which didn't, and it just created a lot of problems. One of the big changes for this year is that it went from 108 questions to 48 questions.”
Now, FAFSA can gather financial information directly from the IRS, streamlining the once tedious and complicated process of inputting tax return information. The formula used to determine an applicant’s Student Aid Index (formerly Expected Family Contribution) was also altered to increase eligibility for Federal Pell Grants and other financial aid options.
“When it all works out, more students are going to qualify for more aid which is going to improve the opportunities for kids to afford to go to college, which is the goal,” Wppdford explains.
Though the changes to the form itself are overwhelmingly positive for students, the digital implementation has been slow and riddled with technical problems.
From a counselor’s point of view, Woodford notes some challenges. “It was supposed to roll out in October, it wasn't going to roll out in October, it was going to roll out in early December, it didn't roll out in early December, and then it just wasn't ready” at its release in early Jan. 2024.
In addition, Woodford explains that some technological issues have made the new process frustrating at times. “I was working with one student on their section, which is the very simple part, and the continue button wouldn't work. We're pushing the continue button, we're hitting the continue button, we're yelling at the continue button, and then I Googled online if you take out the address, for some reason, it would work. There have been a lot of little issues like that. I talked to some parents who are ready to throw their iPads and laptops across the street, but I talked to other parents who were like ‘that was the easiest thing I've ever done.’”
The months-long delay in FAFSA’s release and subsequent technical difficulties altered the college decision timeline for hundreds of thousands of students across the country.
“Colleges are just now getting the information so they can start the financial aid process, so they can put together an SAR, a Student Aid Report, which is the financial aid package for kids. Because that's coming out so late, and typically students have to make up their mind by May 1st…some colleges have not. Every college is different.
“Because of this, it's changed a lot of the way that colleges can get information to students about total cost of attendance, which is very important.”
Despite 2024’s hiccups, Woodford is confident about the future of FAFSA and this year’s alterations: “As I tell our junior families, ‘you're in a good place because these seniors are working through all of these issues.’ They're going to have it all worked out so FAFSA is working for them and ready to go on October 1st of their child's senior year. Hopefully that happens.”