MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — The Class of 2024 will graduate soon.
“It's an emotional time,” Natasha Davis said.
Soon, her only daughter, Kayla, will be going to college.
“She's leaving but I’m happy for her because she's ready to start her new journey,” Davis explained.
However, to get there, parents and kids have to tackle the FAFSA application.
That's the application for federal help with college costs. It helps the federal government gauge financial need for college-bound students, and colleges and universities often use it to determine their need-based aid, too.
It’s no problem for Georgia College's Early College Director Runee Sallad. She's helped many parents complete one.
“Financial aid, scholarships, the whole application process– that's us,” Sallad said.
FAFSA usually opens in October, but the U.S. Department of Education launched a new form this past weekend and says it will be faster and simpler to fill out.
So, starting three months later than usual, Sallad said they were ready to fill it out.
“Several of the students emailed me saying they were going to stay up til 12– midnight. They’re going to be waiting for it to open,” she explained. “Then on the 31st, they were hit with the soft launch."
The FAFSA Soft Launch is where folks would only be able to apply during certain times the website was open while they monitor site performance and to make technical updates.
So, that delayed people, like Davis.
“A couple days ago we weren't able to apply like we were ready to,” she said.
They were able to get access to the website on Wednesday, and once they did, Davis said it was a breeze.
“It took no longer than 5- 7 minutes,” she said.
Sallad says the old FAFSA form would take parents and kids a few hours to complete at most.
“For the initial form, there were some questions that were ambiguous for the student’s part. They needed clarity. This time, I noticed that they asked specific questions so that students could determine, you know, whether or not they meet any of those criteria,” Sallad explained.
Davis said her daughter answered a few questions, and for the parents, she only had to hit a button to allow the IRS to look at their online tax info.
“The process was simpler than I thought it would be,” Davis said.
Not all parents can say the same. Sallad couldn't complete her son's application.
“Questions were easy to answer for him, it was a very smooth process,” she explained. “When the email was sent to me and I clicked on the information, I was supposed to click on and then I did not see him. He was not listed.”
Sallad said she called FAFSA’s customer service line and waited for a few hours for help.
“I did speak with a customer representative that explained that it may just take a while for the information to go through and appear on my page so that I could click on his name and complete the application,” Sallad said. “She said it could take a few weeks– she said basically up to six weeks until I would see that information.”
She said she was worried because they're facing deadlines on scholarships and grants and FAFSA helps determine what aid kids will get.
“She assured me that everyone in the nation is going through this, and colleges and universities – for this time, at least– are going to have to be understanding because this isn’t an isolated incident,” Sallad said.
She says she feels confident that all these bugs will be resolved by the time the deadline arrives on June 30.
“As parents and educators, we're going to have to be patient, and persistent, and make those phone calls to do what is necessary to support our students,” she said.
Sallad says she still encourages folks to apply for FAFSA as soon as possible and be diligent on checking the application’s status if you’re going through something similar to make sure kids are not missing out on potential money.
The deadline to submit a FAFSA application for the coming school year is June 30.