In early January, thousands of students found themselves defeated, staring at empty FAFSA loading screens unsure if they would get their essential financial aid for the upcoming college semester. The FAFSA, or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is a yearly form that determines how much financial aid a student will get for the upcoming semesters for current and incoming college students, giving away approximately $112 billion in grants. For the 2024-25 school year, the U.S. Department of Education rolled out a “soft-launch” program, leaving FAFSA applications to process only during specific days before full processing became available. This, on top of spotty maintenance issues, pushed students to finish their applications during a smaller, more stressful window of time when compared to previous years. Upon a deeper look, these issues are no more than growing pains as the FAFSA reaches for a more accessible future. It’s easy to attach these maintenance issues to a grim outlook on the FAFSA’s future, but behind those empty loading screens lies positive changes the Department of Education has been bringing to expand federal aid and provide much-needed support for college students.
In 2017, 25 percent of FAFSA applicants left their applications unfinished, according to Studentaid.gov. That year, the application was more than 80 questions long, a confusing and unforgiving maze for student families to manuever causing billions of unclaimed federal aid. However, in 2020, the FAFSA Simplification Act was passed pushing the Department of Education to drop many unnecessary questions and opt for a demographic-only system, speeding up the process of application greatly. On top of these changes, the Department of Education recently added changes regarding when students file tax returns. If students consent to the IRS sending their tax returns directly to the Department of Education, questions regarding tax returns will not show up on their application. Each and every step towards a simpler application process paves countless paths towards opening up college to all students, not just low-income students.
The delays during the 2024-25 applications were not unnecessary. According to NBC, they were caused due to new applications not factoring in inflation. Instead of ignoring this, they decided to fix it at all costs, despite the delays. The fix will ultimately bring applicants more money than if the FAFSA were left untouched.
College tuition has increased 40 percent in the last 20 years, each year getting more unrealistic for families to afford. Student loans have become almost necessary and can at times cause a rain cloud of debt to follow people long after college. The FAFSA, at its core, is an attempt to alleviate these financial obstacles for college students, and over the last few years, it has successfully done this. Its role in higher education is vital across the country, and when paired with state systems like Florida’s lottery-funded Bright Futures program, college education can be attainable for all thriving students.