In recent months, an overhaul of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) has caused frustration for upcoming college students. The process and criteria for the amount of government aid for undergraduate tuition were altered and implemented for the first time with applications for the 2024-2025 college year.

The changes responded to concerns that the complexity and length of the FAFSA would prevent possible students from applying. The FAFSA Simplification Act was passed in Dec. 2020 by Congress. Seventy-two percent of all undergraduates received financial aid from FAFSA. 

The recent change has had a significant impact on MT students. Students have complained about the lack of efficiency of the form.

“The website can be very unreliable with multiple crashes and times where it didn’t save my information,” said a senior. “The waiting has been the most annoying part, where most people, myself included, are waiting for weeks, months, etc.”

She was accepted into two schools and the form will factor into the decision process, which is common for applicants.

The delay was also significant to many people. According to U.S. News, on March 22, the Department of Education announced that any submitted form before that date would need to be reprocessed, extending the waiting period for many applicants.

Senior Ashton Hall is very dissatisfied with the change, believing the modification was a good idea, but the execution was flawed. She was frustrated by the uncertainties that plagued the FAFSA’s release.

“When it was released, it wasn’t fully functional, which is infuriating after all the delays. How is it still not finished?” said Hall.

She attributes the delay to the increase in applications once the form was fixed, but notes that she still has trouble with the FAFSA.

“I recently committed to a school, and I have no idea how much it’s going to cost for me to go there because I don’t even have my SAI available for me to look at,” says Ashton.

The SAI (Student Aid Index) uses a formula that relies on student-submitted tax forms and the net worth of their assets through the FAFSA. The cost of college is the SAI subtracted from the college’s tuition.