The Free Application for Federal Student Aid made some changes for the application process of the 2017-18 school year.
UScannenbergmedia, mentions that previously students reported just one year of their parent’s taxes. If students are dependent, or do their own taxes.
Now students have to report the tax information of two previous years.
The start date to fill FAFSA changed, also. Students started applying Saturday, Oct. 1, before students had to wait until Jan. 1.
But these changes do not mean that the financial aid of universities students applying is going to give them their estimated financial aid early. Universities are going to continue having the same deadlines to give their estimates to students.
Students now have more time to fill out the application. They can take a little more time for answer all the questions.
The application has a lot of questions that are important to define how much money any student needs to pay for college. The taxes help to determine how much money the parents or if the student is working, can afford to pay.
Some students did not know the new dates and requirements for FAFSA.
Cynthia Medina, undecided Major, expressed, “I didn’t have [any] idea of the changes. I thought I should apply on the same date.”
She stated that students should be more informed about important things regarding school like financial aid. Medina encouraged students to get involved and be informed.
Nursing major Carla Ramirez said, “To be honest I did not know about it until my friend told me. She saw it from her sister who is in college too. This is my first year in college, so I am kind of new. My teacher helped me last year, but now I feel kind of lost,”
Ramirez confirmed that she already filed the FAFSA.
She said, “I just transferred all of my information to the new application. At the beginning of the application, you transfer information, just click and the information that you previously had and goes to a new application.
“I went to financial aid and asked for help and they helped me a lot. I recommend students to go if they have any questions.”
The financial aid office is helping students to fill out their FAFSA, It is doing workshops where students bring their tax information and receive assistance to fill their application out.
However no one came to the Monday Oct. 3 financial aid office FAFSA workshop, so staff began helping students who came in to the office for assistance.
The financial aid office is helping students one by one to complete their application.
“I actually get crazy with FAFSA because we [students] have to fill the form with a lot of information. Now we have more time to do it, I hope it will be much better,” arts major Luis Ortiz said. “I think it’s less stressful.”
Ortiz thinks that financial aid office is very helpful because first they tell you what papers students need and where students have to put the information.
The sooner the students fill the FAFSA the better chances they have to review it. Students have until Mar. 2 to complete it.
