FAFSA 2024

By Alectra Rose

For many seniors, the start of a new year is the most stressful between figuring out what college you want to go to, keeping your grades up to graduate, and many more. Such as FASFA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). The FAFSA form is an application for federal student aid. You need to complete the FAFSA form to apply for federal student aid such as federal grants, work-study funds, and loans. In order to complete FAFSA you and your parents have to make an account. Many may think that FAFSA is a great thing and has helped so many students. That may be true; however, FAFSA also has some cons to it. 

         Even though there are cons, FASFA can be very helpful. One of the good aspects of it is that it's completely free to fill out the FAFSA and submit it to the Federal Student Aid Office of the U.S. Department of Education. There are no fees. 

Once filled out and completed, the FAFSA can also help you look for many different loans that you may have not known existed. Many times once they look over your application they send you the one that most likely fits your citation. This helps you and your parents save time by not having to search for hours on the one that best fits you. 

Lastly, nearly everyone is eligible for FAFSA.

 If a student can meet all of the following, they are eligible for need-based financial aid:

  -Maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

  -Is a U.S. citizen, a U.S. national, or an eligible non-citizen

  -Has a valid Social Security number

  -Has a high school diploma or GED

  -Sign the certification statement stating that: 1) You are not in default on a federal student loan and don’t owe money on a federal student grant and 2) Federal student aid will only be used for educational purposes 

  -Has not been found guilty of selling illegal drugs while receiving federal aid

https://usstudentloancenter.org/what-is-fafsa/

Though many may believe FASFA has no cons to it there are a few things that are bad about FASFA. One main con is the FASFA form itself. The form has many errors in it causing some people to not be able and complete it. You must complete the form to be able to get FASFA help. 

        Another con is how limited the money is. FASFA only has so much money to help people so once everyone starts applying that money starts to go down which only allows them to help a certain amount of students.                

        Completing the FAFSA can also be detrimental to your college application and chances for financial aid. According to Inside Higher Ed, some unnamed colleges are using the order students enter schools to receive the FAFSA reports as a way of predicting interest in the school. Essentially, this means that some schools are using the FAFSA against students.

       Although FASFA has some cons it still has very many more pros to it. FASAF can help students in college a lot with their tuition and loans.  It is best to fill out the FASFA even if you don't plan to use it just to know that if you need help it is available.