New Financial Aid
Rules & SAT date are Adding Stress to the already Stressful Application
Season
The
Class of 2017 was the first to experience the new FAFSA schedule, with the federal
financial aid application being available for the first time on October 1st
rather than on January 1st. This change was touted to be
beneficial to both families and the financial aid offices. Another change was the use of the
prior-prior-year’s (PPY) income information.
This alleviated the difficulties which arose when the IRS couldn’t
process returns fast enough to get the information to the FAFSA processor and,
in turn, to the financial aid offices, to ensure that financial aid awards
would not need to be adjusted once the information was available. By using 2015 tax return information in
October, 2016, the IRS had sufficient time to process those returns.
Because
of those changes, financial aid awards were expected to be sent out to
applicants much earlier, allowing families more time to determine how to take
care of their portion of the bill.
Financial aid officers had hoped to have more time to counsel parents
and students, helping them find a satisfactory solution. However, as of mid-February, students are not
reporting receiving their awards yet.
Most are still awaiting the news.
Hopefully this is due to the adjustments needed in the financial aid
offices and earlier awards will be forthcoming in subsequent years. After all, many colleges and universities
have long set their next school year’s tuition rates in January. That process will need to shift to September
or earlier in order to enable the financial aid office to create award letters
as early as November. Down the hall, admissions
offices are already preparing longer marketing campaigns to entice admitted
students to commit to their schools.
Families are often surprised to see the admissions letter contain
information regarding submitting a deposit to commit to the school since the
financial aid award hasn’t yet been received.
But this is standard practice. Remember,
colleges are businesses trying to attract customers/students.
Now
that the FAFSA can be filed any time after October 1, this year’s seniors found
themselves extra busy during the early months of the application season. Since many schools with early action and/or
early decision admissions programs required the FAFSA to be filed by November
1, the very same date the admissions applications were due, students found
themselves spinning like whirling dervishes trying to get everything submitted
on time. Finishing early applications
due October 15th or November 1st along with getting the
FAFSA filed and, in some cases, the PROFILE, was very difficult for many
students and their families. Parents
were oftentimes caught off guard by the early financial aid application
deadlines.
Since
the financial aid applications are not available until October 1, future student
applicants will need to focus on completing their applications for admissions
earlier… and on getting all the details taken care of. Many applicants consider writing the
application essays to be the most difficult part of the application
process. However, ensuring that
transcripts and test scores are sent out, not to mention the recommendation
letters, can make students lose their cool. There are many, many details to keep track of. Add in the schools which follow up the
financial aid forms with additional requirements like sending in tax forms or
other documentation and it’s no wonder families are stressed out.
To
top it off, the SAT has added an August sitting. This has been long requested and is good
news. The Class of 2018 will be able to
take the SAT August 26th and/or the ACT on September 9th,
both in time for even the earliest of the application deadlines. But that only packs their schedule even more
tightly in the Fall. Students will need
to start the application process even sooner and be very well organized in
order to fulfill all the requirements by their various deadlines. Given how very few have developed those
skills at age 17, the need for hiring a college consultant is becoming
increasingly apparent.
To discuss your situation and how she can help you, schedule an initial consultation with college admissions and financial aid expert, Katherine O'Brien, MA CCPS, here. Her website is www.CelticCollegeConsultants.com