Financial Aid for low income students is the difference between attending college or not attending.
By: Tracy Young
Joshua was a low-income first gen high school senior. He grew up with non-English speaking immigrant parents and was a hard worker. By the time senior year came, he had achieved a GPA of a 3.5 and was hoping to be the first member of his family to graduate from college.
It was a shock to Josh when he learned that college would cost him $30k a year at a public California State School. His family lived in a small 2 bedroom apartment that they shared with another family and his parents made $30k a year for a family of 5 in the bay area.
Josh was one of the luckier seniors who had a Reach mentor who walked him through each step of the financial aid process and how to fill out the 106 questions on the FAFSA form. FAFSA is a form that unlocks all Federal and State grants (free money). After filling out FAFSA, Josh received almost $11,000 dollars in free aid each year in college and had enough to attend San Jose State University as a commuter student.
The Hechinger Report news story ranked the FAFSA No. 1 among the "most complex and convoluted higher education forms.” A majority of low income, first gen students of color come from homes where their parents do not speak English. The FAFSA is too complex and without a mentor, many students simply give up and never get the funding they need.
The EAB consulting group found that “almost 40 percent of first-generation students, and 37 percent of low-income students, said they did the FAFSA themselves, compared to 11 percent of higher-income students.”
Questions such as “Are either of your parents a dislocated worker?” or “Please fill in the amount of income tax of your parents for 2021” are daunting questions for a 17 year old first gen student with no parental help.
To complicate matters, FAFSA is unforgiving for even the slightest error in a number or answer and is rejected automatically without an explanation as to “why” the student’s application is in error.
Conversations amongst educators and the Department of Education continue on how to make FAFSA easier. Suggestions have floated about limiting the questions to 37 (down from 106) and making them more relevant.
As in Josh’s case, the FAFSA money of $11k was the reason he was able to attend college. We also teach our students that there is Federal slush money that exists at each university, above and beyond the Federal and State grants. This federal slush money (SEOG) is given out to students at each university on a first come first serve basis. Our students need every extra dollar.
FAFSA opens this coming Saturday, October 1st. We congratulate our students and mentors who have spent the last month working tirelessly on the 106 FAFSA questions in the form of a doc. They are prepared, even though the deadline isn’t until March 2, 2023.
Each year it is an incredible feat to see 99% of our students submit their FAFSA in the first couple days of the opening. This Saturday Oct 1st at 9pm (MST) when FAFSA opens, all our students will be sitting at their computers ready to submit and wanting to be first in line for their funding.
Come join the Reach Foundation as we guide low-income hardworking students on the path to graduating from a 4 year university. Donate, follow us on LInkedIn or come and volunteer your time! Learn more.