- The Division of Training launched a brand new FAFSA to streamline the appliance course of.
- I attempted to submit the financial-aid kind for my college-bound son, however the web site saved crashing.
- After attempting for hours, I lastly submitted the shape.
To be honest, I might been warned.
A number of weeks in the past, my son’s high-school faculty counselor emailed mother and father of seniors, advising us that whereas the US Division of Training’s newly up to date Free Software for Federal Scholar Assist, or FAFSA, could be accessible December 30, we’d need to wait earlier than filling it out.
The FAFSA measures a pupil’s {qualifications} for federal help —together with grants, work-study funds, and pupil loans. Some colleges additionally use it to award their very own help, so it is necessary to finish it. The Division of Training says the FAFSA overhaul will enhance and streamline the appliance course of. It’ll additionally enable federal tax knowledge to be transferred straight from the Inside Income Service.
After weeks of delays, the faculty counselor warned us the shape was nonetheless in its “tender launch” part and might be tough to navigate.
I gave it a go anyway. My child is making use of to greater than a dozen faculties, so I’ve gotten used to navigating on-line purposes. How robust may it’s? After 13 hours, I noticed simply how fallacious I might be.
The difficulty began nearly instantly
Once I logged in to the location, I used to be met with the message: “The FAFSA kind is accessible for a brief time period whereas we monitor its efficiency and replace the shape to give you a greater expertise.” One other warning I ignored.
The FAFSA requires Social Safety numbers and tax-return data. The coed and a dad or mum should create accounts with a cellphone quantity and e-mail deal with. My son and I each set them up simply.
I used to be then given two choices: Begin a brand new kind or entry an current kind. However neither button labored. I refreshed dozens of occasions, getting a message the location was unavailable. Lastly, after seven hours of periodic checking, I bought to log in. Victory!
First, I began my son’s software. I put in his primary data after which added within the faculties the place he is making use of. This solely took about half an hour. However when it was time to e-sign for my son and shut out his FAFSA part, the shape froze. After attempting repeatedly to log off and end, I could not. In frustration, I deleted the shape and determined to strive once more later.
The following morning, I bought into my son’s portal after just a few tries and reworked his part. When it got here time to e-sign, I held my breath and gave the button a faucet. Success! Nevertheless, after I moved on to my profile, I saved getting caught filling in my dwelling deal with. I refreshed, tried once more, and bought kicked again to the homepage, which was “at the moment unavailable.”
The FAFSA gives a digital assistant referred to as Aidan. It could not deal with particular questions and easily referred me again to the overall FAFSA web site. The toll-free quantity routed me to a recording, which was equally ineffective.
I reached out to my son’s faculty counselor, who despatched me a step-by-step slide deck outlining the complete software course of. It confirmed what I already suspected: I stuffed out the FAFSA accurately. The system was only a buggy, glitchy mess.
Reddit helped me lastly full the FAFSA
I wasn’t fairly able to admit defeat. A final-ditch Google search led me to a FAFSA Reddit thread, describing attainable workarounds. I attempted one — omitting my cellphone quantity within the private data discipline — and to my absolute shock, I used to be capable of advance to the subsequent web page. Reddit discovered what Aidan could not.
After manually including our tax knowledge, I bought caught once more on the e-signature immediate. It took one other hour of attempting earlier than I may lastly, blessedly, file the shape — after 13 hours of attempting. I obtained a congratulatory message signaling completion and promptly took a number of Advil to stave off my large headache.
Hopefully, the brand new FAFSA will work itself out in time
To be honest, the FAFSA overhaul was an infinite raise. The shape is now accessible 24/7, and the Division of Training says it is obtained one million purposes thus far.
Once I contacted the Division of Training, I used to be directed to a January 8 press launch. The division acknowledged it “initiated pauses for web site upkeep and to make technical updates” however doesn’t point out the following chaos and delays.
The DOE additionally says mother and father and college students needs to be ready for “routine upkeep” shifting ahead within the 2024-2025 software cycle, however there isn’t any phrase on when it’d happen or how lengthy it is going to take.
Good luck to anybody taking up the 2024-2025 FAFSA. I am glad my household bought via what was a irritating expertise — though I am going to really feel higher as soon as we get affirmation that my son’s software is processed efficiently.
