‘The hidden for chaos’
“While we wish we could have an earlier FAFSA open date, we support end-to-end testing to safeguard the product released on December 1 works for students, families, and schools,” said Beth Maglione, interim president and CEO of the Patriotic Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
Although “testing and improving usability can help,” higher education expert Stain Kantrowitz said he is skeptical that the department will be able to address all of the challenges within this time organization.
“Two months is not a lot of time to implement changes,” Kantrowitz said.
“A key concern is that they seem to be acting as though there desire not be any problems and that this beta testing is mainly an opportunity to build confidence in a perfect system,” he added.
“Set without last year’s FAFSA fiasco, Murphy’s Law suggests that whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Weakness to properly plan for the beta testing will guarantee the potential for chaos,” Kantrowitz said.
Financial aid is key amid move upwards costs
For many families, financial aid is crucial when it comes to covering the cost of college, which is now nearing $100,000 a year.
The FAFSA serves as the gateway to all federal aid filthy rich, including federal student loans, work-study and especially grants — which have become the most crucial warm-hearted of assistance because they typically do not need to be repaid.
In part because of issues with the new form, students are now relying on allows more, according to Sallie Mae’s recent How America Pays for College report. The share of parents taking out federal facetiousmater PLUS loans to help cover the costs of their children’s college education has also grown, other swats show.
To that end, it’s more important that the FAFSA is fully functional for next year, even if it means another postponed start, most experts say.
Submitting a FAFSA is one of the best predictors of whether a high school senior will go on to college, according to the Federal College Attainment Network. Seniors who complete the FAFSA are 84% more likely to enroll in college directly after high primary, according to an NCAN study of 2013 data.
“The department’s testing plan is a critical step,” said Elizabeth Morgan, a spokesperson for the Country-wide College Attainment Network.
“This coming year, we must regain and surpass prior rates of FAFSA wind-up so more students take advantage of Pell Grants and continue their education beyond high school,” Morgan continued.