Despite flaws, SDSU says new FAFSA is much easier to complete

BROOKINGS, S.D. (KELO)–For the first time in decades, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form, better known as FAFSA, underwent a major change. That’s led to some headline-making challenges all year.

Upwards of 30 percent of the new FAFSA forms have errors. That’s on top of the major delays in communications to universities across the country, which is holding up financial aid packages for thousands of students and families.

“Technology systems are incredibly complex and so any time you change to a brand-new system, it’s going to have some growing pains. We have to expect that,” Michaela Willis said.

Michaela Willis, SDSU Vice President of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management, says the growing pains with the new federal student aid application continue to delay many student aid offers.

“It has taken a little bit longer to get all of the information from the new FAFSA and get it into college and university hands. So we do anticipate in the next month, month and a half, we should start seeing more of those financial aid packages rolling out,” Willis said.

Despite the challenges, she says the new FAFSA application did get something right.

“It did what it was supposed to do and that is to simplify the process for students and families,” Willis said. “In the past it would take an hour, maybe two hours to complete the form, you would have to have all of these materials with you. Now I’m hearing from students and families and even from personal experience, it takes about 15 minutes to complete the FAFSA.”

“It said on the website it was going to take about an hour and it took me and my dad about 20 minutes,” Ham Lake, MN High School senior Gracie Peterson said.

Incoming freshman Gracie Peterson says she watched several of her friends spend hours filling out FAFSA forms last year and could see the changes first hand in the new application.

“I think it was a lot easier, the way that the questions were laid out a lot more simply than they were before,” Peterson said.

“Filling it out, it was it wasn’t really confusing. I feel like was pretty straightforward,” SDSU incoming freshman Zoey Brown said.

Sioux Falls Roosevelt senior Zoey Brown is one of the lucky few who has already received her financial aid package from SDSU after submitting the new FAFSA application in early January.

“I had checked in early April, so probably late March got back and it was pretty good information on it,” Brown said.

Giving Willis some hope that the new FAFSA system will work out for the best, once it gets through all of the growing pains.

“Has it rolled out smoothly? No, but we will get there and next year will be even that much smoother,” Willis said.

Willis says about 90 percent of SDSU students fill out the FAFSA and receive some form of student aid. Nationally, FAFSA applications are down more than 30 percent as students and parents face the uncertainty of the changes. Willis encourages anyone who hasn’t filled it out yet to take 15 minutes to submit their FAFSA before the start of the Fall semester.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports.