More Money, More Aid: FAFSA Season Officially Opens

More Money, More Aid: FAFSA Season Officially Opens

Phillip Denne, Writer

If you are a senior in America, you are very familiar with this acronym: FAFSA, or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.  With the application opening on October 1, the primary purpose of FAFSA is to figure out how much need-based financial aid you qualify for, and then how much non-need-based aid you can get. Even though the application only takes an hour to fill out, the stress of the process is much larger the short amount of time it takes to fill out the form. “It helps kids who are indigent, but I don’t feel that it helps kids who are middle-class due to the fact that the government thinks they made enough to afford a $50-60,000 a year education,” says Principal Dr. Joyce Kenner, who grew up as a middle-class citizen.  “Growing up as a triplet, it was difficult for my family to pay for my education.  My parents refused to file for FAFSA, but they somehow made it work. Overall, the FAFSA process should be modified to help middle-class citizens due to the rising costs of college. Not everyone can afford college as much as the government thinks they can based on their IRS reports,” Principal Kenner also stated.

Some students, like senior Dashaun Edwards ‘19, did feel that the FAFSA application process was quite simple. “My mother was right next to me when I filled out the application so I have to say it was easy. After she linked our IRS accounts to the website, it was smooth sailing from there”, says Edwards. Edwards also agrees with his principal about the middle-class situation with FAFSA. “One thing that the government fails to notice is that the middle-class struggle financially as well.  They need help too. I’ve heard mixed reviews about if FAFSA actually helps students pursue their collegiate dreams, but I cannot make an opinion of it since this is my first experience with it,” Edwards proclaimed. FAFSA and other financial aid for students has been around since 1965, so it seems like they hold a strong reputation for helping out students. Hopefully our class of 2019 can benefit from their assistance as well.