Problems with the new FAFSA? You're not alone. What to know about the 2024-25 FAFSA
Tashma Glymph, like most moms of graduating high school seniors, knows filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as the FAFSA, is important. That doesn’t make it less difficult.
“Logging in, even, was a challenge,” Glymph said of her experience. “I haven’t looked at it in 20, 25 years … and then they have a new launch of how you complete it, and no one knows what to do.”
Glymph isn’t the only one who has gotten a little stressed by the new FAFSA, which was launched in December instead of October, as it traditionally has been.
Delilah Goode, the global career development facilitator at Broome High School, said changes to the form, such as the split student and parent forms, have created challenges.
“(One) big challenge was them having their parent’s social security number and a parent email. Most of the kids may have their parent’s email, but parent’s social? That was difficult,” Goode said. “So, kids were then having to call parents at work to get their social or texting their parents trying to get the social. Some of the parents didn’t feel comfortable giving them it on the phone. That leaves the kid not being able to complete their part with me at school.”
The late rollout has put FAFSA completion rates behind compared to last year.
“In Spartanburg, we are down about 27%,” said Meghan Smith, Spartanburg Academic Movement’s director of Center for Postsecondary Success.
The late rollout has also delayed data on individual students’ FAFSA completion, which the Spartanburg Academic Movement (SAM) receives from the South Carolina Tuition and Grants Commission and disseminates to Spartanburg County high schools. Facilitators like Goode use it to tailor their efforts for each senior. The data tells them whether a student has completed the FAFSA, is missing a signature, has an incomplete form, or hasn’t started.
The late rollout has also delayed financial aid letters for prospective college students.
“Seniors right now have likely not received any sort of financial aid letter from their college because their college is probably just now getting their information,” Smith said. “It has stressed an already stressful season in a student and family's life and just compressed it into a very, very small timeframe. So, we are concerned of what sort of impact this will have.”
However, help has been and will continue to be available for students and parents. Glymph said she attended a SAM FAFSA workshop earlier this year and was able to get her side of the form started. Her son, Karter, has already completed his side.
“It made me feel relieved that I had support,” Glymph said. She plans to complete her end of the FAFSA this week at another workshop.
The week of April 15, is National FAFSA Week of Action. Here are some things to know about FAFSA and where to get help filling it out:
Why is filling out the FAFSA important?
Completing and submitting a FAFSA lets students know what federal, state, and often institutional financial aid, like college grants, scholarships and work studies, they are eligible for.
SAM has found that high school students who complete the FAFSA before they graduate are 3.5 times more likely to enroll in college than students who don’t.
Who should submit a FAFSA?
Any student who is a U.S. citizen, regardless of their family’s structure or circumstances.
Even, Goode said, if they don’t currently plan on attending college in the fall.
“I always tell them, complete the FAFSA and put it in the freezer,” Goode said. “If you don't use it, then fine, it's okay. It is there. But if you get to that point and you decide that you do need it, you don't want to be like, ‘Oh, you missed the deadline for this’ or ‘Oh, I needed to send this, that, and the other.’ You have it.”
What information is needed to complete the FAFSA?
Students and their parents must create a FAFSA ID. These IDs can take several days to process.
Parents will need their 2022 tax information and so will students if they work.
You'll also need internet access and a computer or smartphone to fill out the online form.
When should the FAFSA be completed?
As soon as possible. For seniors, ideally, before school lets out. The federal deadline is June 30, 2025, and the state deadline for the SC Tuition Grant is August 1, 2024, but colleges' all have their own deadlines, which if missed, can keep students from registering for classes in the semester they would like to start or diminish the institutional aid they'll have access to in their first semester.
The good news? The one positive of the 2024-25 FAFSA that these local professionals agree on is that it’s much shorter. Spartanburg Methodist College Director of Financial Aid & Enrollment Services Kyle Wade said it takes about 15 minutes, if both student and parent are there and have their FAFSA IDs.
"It's been better for the most part," Wade said of the new FAFSA. "It's been a challenge in terms of processing stuff, but the form itself is shorter, fewer questions."
Where can I get help filling out the FAFSA in Spartanburg?
SAM is holding a free FAFSA workshop at Spartanburg Community College’s downtown campus (220 E. Kennedy St.) tonight, April 18 from 4-7 p.m. in Computer Lab 221. You can register on their website.
One-on-one sessions with members of SMC’s Financial Aid team are also available. There are four time slots each weekday in April, available to be scheduled on their website, smcsc.edu/fafsa-hands-on-help.
High school seniors and their parents can also check with their schools for FAFSA events or consult a guidance counselor or career development facilitator, like Goode, if they are struggling to complete their FAFSA.
Samantha Swann covers city news, development and culture in Spartanburg. She is a University of South Carolina Upstate and Greenville Technical College alumna. Contact her at sswann@shj.com or on Instagram at @sam_on_spartanburg.
This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: What to know about the 2024-25 FAFSA: changes, where to get help
