The Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), a crucial tool for determining eligibility for federal student aid, underwent its first redesign in over four decades for the 2024-2025 academic year.

This year’s form is easier to fill out because the number of questions decreased from 108 to 36. However, the new process faced substantial challenges, including accessibility issues and technical glitches.

On Feb. 1st, FAFSA said they would send students’ FAFSA data to schools by mid-March. Previously, they had said they would start sending this data by late Jan, which was already delayed from the usual Oct. 22nd date. 

The delays in processing the FAFSA resulted in multiple schools extending their financial aid announcement deadlines; with college being anywhere from 26k to 105k a year, students may have to wait to view their financial plans, disrupting the traditional college decision day of May 1st, which is now June 1st. Past the day, Seniors are in LFHS.

 FAFSA is on a first come first serve basis, the constant glitches of not being able to enter the portal make some students ineligible for a grant despite needing it. 

Senior, Ava Fox said, “I just think it’s overall pretty ridiculous. It steers away students who most likely have the potential to thrive academically, however, they’re unable to even think of certain universities because of the yearly cost. FAFSA should be more helpful and at least somewhat more available for all students applying to universities.”  

 Another significant change is the modification in the needs analysis formula, once called the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) now the Student Aid Index (SAI) no longer considers the number of children a family has in college, leading to higher costs for families with multiple students in higher education simultaneously. 

Senior, Alexa Milz, twin with Landon Milz is worried about financing college due to this, “Our parents have taught us a lot about being responsible with our own finances, and we both are expected to contribute a certain amount towards our education. Unfortunately, the costs of schools make that very hard to achieve without financial aid.”  

Ideas to do in the meantime… 

Seniors who are worried about the FAFSA should apply for Scholarships. Free money for students to apply towards a certain college. 

• See if your College(s) has internal Scholarships 

Internal scholarships are given to you by a college for that specific college and can not be applied to someplace else. A lot of colleges like USC, WashU, Charleston, and UIUC offer these scholarships if you apply before a certain deadline. 

• See if your school accepts external scholarships

External Scholarships are sponsored by organizations outside of colleges. There are many different websites and quick scholarships to apply for as some may require essays seniors have already written from the Common Application. A popular website is Scholarships.com which will find scholarships that are tailored to you.

• Check out LFHS’s local scholarships

LFHS is very generous in giving out scholarships. The deadline for applications is March 15th which will be announced on Honor’s night May 30th. There are many opportunities catered to different students.