New FAFSA system complicates financial aid for low-income students

The FAFSA application process has become more difficult.
(Image credit: iStock)

FAFSA — the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — is the first step in any college student's quest for need-based financial assistance. It serves as an application for tax-subsidized student loans, but most universities also use the FAFSA to determine eligibility for internal need-based scholarships.

While the FAFSA has long been available online, recent changes to the system have complicated the application process, especially for low-income students who may not have reliable internet access at home. Complaints reported by Inside Higher Ed allege that the new process is cumbersome and time-consuming, with problems including:

  • The security questions, which can be used instead of email to recover a forgotten password or ID, are unusual (“Type a significant date in your life”) and difficult to correct if typed incorrectly.
  • Email confirmations can take up to 24 hours, and in some cases, never appear at all.
  • One method for changing a forgotten password requires a 30-minute wait.
  • Accounts lock after multiple failed attempts to log in and the help-line wait can be hours. [Inside Higher Ed]

The Department of Education said it has not received any "complaints" about the new FAFSA system, but admitted that the updated site is a chief driver of "inquiries" about difficulties with the application.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.