In 2023, the Department of Education released an updated version of the Free Application for Student Aid that would make the process easier for students to fill and receive aid.

Students must fill the FAFSA to qualify for federal and state grant funds, federal loans, and work study, Jedidiah Gilden, director of Financial Aid, said in an email.

One of the changes involved with the redesign was that the number of questions students and families had to fill out were significantly reduced, Gilden said.

Another was that the FAFSA connected directly to the IRS so families would not need to enter tax information, Gilden said.

The new FAFSA introduced a change in federal methodology to determine a student’s financial need, making students more motivated to become eligible for the Pell Grant than in previous years, Gilden said.

The Financial Aid Office has seen an increased number of students become Pell Grant eligible this year, Gilden said.

Federal Pell Grants are awarded to undergraduate students who have not yet received a degree who have displayed exceptional financial need, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

“When the FAFSA application is working correctly, it reduces the time needed to complete it,” Gilden said.

Despite this, a lot of students came across issues that prevented them from submitting their FAFSA, or rejected it altogether due to bugs in the system, Gilden said.

Many students and families were not impressed by the new changes. But how have Fort Lewis College students been affected by the redesign?

For Jacob Jojola, a studio art senior at FLC and member of the Isleta Pueblo, the redesign came as a shock, he said. Jojola relies on the Pell Grant as well as his tribal scholarship to support himself through college, he said.

Jojola studied abroad in Hirakata-shi, Osaka Prefecture, Japan last academic year from September to June, which made seeking help from FLC advisers a complicated process due to the 15-hour time difference, he said.

An additional problem that arose was the lack of a Student Aid Report that was needed to keep his tribal scholarship, which had not yet shifted to accommodate the FAFSA revamp, he said.

“It’s good to have things streamlined, it’s good to have things easily accessible, but at the same time you have to make sure they actually work and things are coordinated,” Jojola said.

Elijah Smith, a junior computer engineering major, also had difficulties with last year’s FAFSA. Smith learned about the redesign when he started the application last October, he said.

One of the biggest differences he found in the new FAFSA was the changes on household income, he said.

He learned that they did different classifications for the threshold amounts of yearly household income, as well as changing who qualifies for it, Smith said.

In previous years, Smith was able to receive FAFSA aid, but with the redesign he was not able to get it, he said.

He thinks it is because his father received a pay raise, but even with that difference it did not justify the change, Smith said.

“My dad, he’s the only person that works in my family, and just with his income and not being able to get FAFSA is kind of insane,” Smith said.

Though not getting his FAFSA was disappointing, Smith was able to apply for Foundation Scholarships within the school to subsidize the loss, he said.

Another issue arose in students with undocumented parents. The new FAFSA promised that these parents could create an FSA ID to submit the form, but when it did not work as planned it created a major equity issue, Gilden said.

“I think any major rollout of a new system will have its problems, but many schools were surprised and frustrated at just how many problems this FAFSA rollout had,” Gilden said.

With these negative experiences from last year in mind, there are a few things that students need to know to prepare for this year’s FAFSA process.

The 2025-2026 FAFSA will open on Dec. 1, as stated by the Department of Education, Gilden said. 

It is recommended that students do not fill out the application for the first day or two, as it is the most common time that issues with the application are identified and fixed, Gilden said.

Since there is some funding that is awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis, it is also advised that students finish the application no later than Jan. 15, 2025, Gilden said.

FLC could help students by holding more workshops ,which could help students complete the application without rushing it, Smith said.

The Financial Aid Office will hold FAFSA nights in the Education Business Hall in Room 10 on Dec. 5 and Dec. 9 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Students may also drop by the Financial Aid Office during normal business hours or reach out to the Department of Education helpline to get assistance, Gilden said.

Monitoring Workday tasks is also helpful, as some students may need to submit additional documents before they can receive financial aid, Gilden said.

The Financial Aid Office will request these documents through the task list on Workday, he said.

Dependent students should complete the student portion before their parent receives their invite. Married students should also fill out the student portion and have their spouse complete the rest afterwards, Gilden said.

One of the most common questions the Financial Aid Office gets about the FAFSA is if students have to report their parent’s income on the application.

A student should report parent information until they are 24 years old except under special circumstances. There is also a section that asks students dependency questions to determine if parent info is required, Gilden said.

Should a FAFSA result end up not reflecting a student’s financial need, there is a Financial Aid Reconsideration Form on the FLC website, which is an online form that students can apply for if their financial situation has changed or they are facing extremely high medical expenses, Gilden said.

The Financial Aid Office collects documents and adjusts numbers reported on their FAFSA that could increase the amount of financial aid need that a student can qualify for, he said.

Some students rely on this system, so last year was a mistake that should not be repeated, but a good learning experience for everyone, Jojola said.

This experience may lead students to realize that they cannot always rely on their institutions, but they must also rely on themselves and have a back-up plan, Jojola said.

It may also teach institutions that these systems likely have errors and bugs and they need to figure out what to do to keep the student-institution relationship, he said.

“We are hoping the Department of Education took a lot from the experience and are able to implement fixes to make the 25-26 application more seamless,” Gilden said