As financial aid professionals, we know the critical role the FAFSA plays in helping students afford higher education. With the recent FAFSA simplification roll-out problems, many of us have encountered unexpected challenges as well as opportunities to improve the support we provide to students and families. In order to avoid repeating some of the frustrations experienced with the last cycle, here are some key lessons learned from the most recent FAFSA release cycle allowing us to proactively prepare and adapt to better support the communities of students we serve.
1. Effective Communication Is Key
The simplification of the FAFSA was meant to streamline the process, but for many families, the changes have created confusion, particularly around the new terminology and eligibility requirements. Financial aid offices need to prioritize frequent, clear, consistent communication with students and parents. This means updating website FAQs, holding webinars or workshops, and ensuring that frontline staff are fully briefed on the most common concerns and misconceptions.
As such, consider creating a “FAFSA Explainer” document that breaks down new sections, common questions, and how to complete the application in simple language. Distribute it through your campus’ communications channels, from admissions to financial aid, and make sure front-line staff are able to respond to questions about the functionalities within the application, which will be available and working come December 1.
2. Increased Need for Personalized Support
One-size-fits-all solutions no longer work in today’s evolving student support landscape. The shift in the FAFSA’s structure has increased the need for personalized support, especially for families with unique circumstances. Partnering with access organizations that offer FAFSA Completion Workshops, offering resources in languages spoken by students and parents other than English, and clarifying documents needed to complete the application successfully will help prepare families and students in successfully completing this upcoming application.
3. Collaboration with Other Departments Matters
With FAFSA simplification, some families may have incomplete or incorrect information due to the switch to direct IRS data retrieval. Financial aid professionals must work closely with admissions, student accounts, and other departments to ensure that students are receiving accurate financial information. This teamwork is vital in ensuring that no student falls through the cracks due to administrative miscommunication. To facilitate this, consider hosting regular cross-departmental meetings before we enter peak FAFSA completion season to ensure everyone is on the same page. Share updates on the latest challenges and work on collaborative solutions to streamline operations among and across university departments.
4. Technology Is a Double-Edged Sword
While the FAFSA simplification promises a more tech-friendly process, technology has also created new obstacles. Some families have struggled with glitches that have kept them from completing the application or that have inaccurately calculated their information; others have encountered issues with their FSA IDs, or the inability to sign the application altogether. The digital concerns experienced in the last cycle created real and frustrating barriers to the completion of this application, so it is important to prepare families that may potentially experience these issues again, so that they do not lose hope in completing the application. Separately, it is also important to take pause before advising families, or promising that this cycle is going to be as seamless as we have been promised. Encouraging folks to walk with grace and patience from the onset, while doing everything we can in the meantime to ensure families feel supported, even as they have to wait to get their applications processed and reviewed, can go a long way in rebuilding trust with a process that was difficult throughout the latest cycle, especially for those with the highest need.
5. Emphasizing Early Preparation
One of the clearest lessons from the FAFSA roll-out is that students and families need to be able to begin the financial aid process as soon as possible. Many of the challenges associated with FAFSA completion resulted from families assuming there would be no issues in the completion of this application, thereby leaving things until later in the cycle, when delays in processing caused other significant headaches. Although we cannot control how quickly glitches and issues with the application get resolved, we can encourage families to begin the application so that we can then assist them in determining what issues they are encountering, so that these can then be communicated expediently as we seek an appropriate resolution of the issues. Separately, we should encourage families to use this time prior to the December 1 deadline, to secure their FSA ID (if they do not have one yet) and begin gathering the required documents needed to complete the application as expediently as possible.
6. Advocacy and Continuous Learning
As the financial aid application landscape continues to change it is crucial that professionals stay informed and advocate for policies that make application completion more accessible. As FAFSA evolves, so too should our approach to training staff, sharing knowledge with peers, and pushing for adjustments that improve the experience for the families and students we serve. Staying connected and informed about the latest communications shared by the Department of Education concerning glitches, fixes, and processing work-arounds served many in our community this past cycle, meaning we cannot afford to remain ignorant of these communications as they are being released. As such, it is important that we encourage our teams to participate in ongoing professional development, whether through webinars, workshops, conferences, policy reviews, or consultancy support, to stay up-to-date on the latest policy changes and best practices in the industry.
As the date for the start of the next FAFSA completion cycle draws nearer, we should look back to consider how the lessons learned from the most recent cycle provide us with valuable information. In effect, we can also expect that the upcoming release will come with its own set of unique changes and challenges. By improving communication, offering personalized support, fostering cross-department collaboration, addressing technological concerns, encouraging early preparation, and staying active in training efforts, financial aid professionals can better serve students and families this upcoming cycle. Thus, we have a responsibility to continue to adapt, innovate, and ensure that every student has the resources they need to pursue their educational dreams. For help and support through this upcoming FAFSA release cycle, feel free to contact our staff at info@heag.us to assess how our staffing, training, and support solutions might assist your office and staff.