A brand new FAFSA: The good, the bad, the ugly

Nati Feliciano-Soto, Contributing Writer 

Since the devastating pandemic of 2020, an economic crisis has taken over the United States and caused many hard-working Americans and eligible non-citizens to express concern over the affordability of college. 

In response, FAFSA has created a new system that hopes to change the way Americans and eligible non-citizens can pursue their education. 

The new — mostly unhelpful — updates to the 2024-2025 FAFSA mainly focus on simplifying the application process and expanding eligibility. Specific alterations included modifications to income protection allowances, adjustments to the Simplified Needs Test and potential changes in Expected Family Contribution.

Some of these changes, such as possible complexities in determining eligibility criteria, might end up hurting certain demographics more than they help them. For example, adjustments to income protection allowances might negatively affect aid calculations for various income brackets. 

Precisely determining financial needs becomes a significant challenge as there is a lack of necessary adjustments to effectively address the ongoing problem of inflation. The status of the economy is constantly fluctuating, moving from periods of grace to resembling a recession — which affects the job markets of our contributors.

Those with complex family financial structures, such as those receiving multiple sources of income or with non-traditional family arrangements, may find it challenging to accurately represent their financial situation on the new FAFSA.

Despite these negative changes, the new changes aimed at improving accessibility and accuracy in determining financial aid for all working-class Americans and eligible non-citizens are working some-what better.

For example, it provides earlier visibility into Pell Grant eligibility, which allows low-income students to have a clearer understanding of the financial aid they can receive and facilitates better-informed decisions about college affordability and enrollment. 

As a newly-wed student, the new FAFSA process was very straightforward for me because of  its minimization of questions. I didn’t have to worry about the thousands of confusing assets or residency questions that, in previous years, had my parents and me crying in a ball. 

While I do appreciate the benefits, I find myself largely dissatisfied about the changes because of the misrepresentation that is created by the inaccurate picture of one’s financial situation.

For instance, FAFSA applicants should not be required to list a contributor if they are an independent. Listing a contributor as an independent or independently married student, when they are not financially contributing, can potentially impact the accuracy of financial aid assessments being default.  

I find needing a contributor signature at all to be very unnecessary, as unlike in previous years, my contributor — which is my spouse — will not be expected to contribute anything to my educational expenses.

Also, if I became a recipient of Pell Grants and other means of government assistance, I do not understand why a contributor is a necessity.

One thing that additionally became aggravating was the amount of crashes and bugs that were present throughout the process. Despite battling through the mishaps due to these crashes and bugs, I am still currently being prevented from getting my contributor’s signature to complete the entire process. 

Nevertheless, it’s evident that the Federal Student Aid office needs to address these serious concerns that many other college students have pointed out via social media platforms such as TikTok. Rather than doing so, FAFSA simply streamlined the number of questions students encounter in the application process.

I empathize with their frustration, especially those who may be dependents or have parents without a social security number. 

Instances such as the inability to include siblings on the form or seeking leniency for those living with undocumented parents highlight the need for a more tailored approach to the individual circumstances that may impact a student’s financial needs.

Training their customer service specialists on these new changes so they may offer better help to apprehensive students, along with extending the deadline, are ways the Federal Student Aid office could begin addressing these concerns.