How the College Financial-Aid Process Will Be Different This Year
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Here's your Money Briefing for Tuesday, December 21st. I'm J.R.
What changes to FAFSA should families know about for the 2022–23 school year?
Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. A college education is among a family's largest expenses, and to ease the financial burden, millions of high school students and their families are filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. But this year, families should prepare for a bit of extra number crunching because of the pandemic's continued impact on their finances.
In some cases, a family, due to the pandemic, may have had extraordinary health expenses or a job loss. And those types of things may not be apparent from that 2020 tax return. So if you have these anomalies or things that really you think the aid officer should know that's not reflected on your tax returns, you really need to reach out.
Coming up, we'll talk with WSJ contributor Cheryl Winokur-Monk about some changes in the aid application process. That's after the break.
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Ahead of next year's school year, students that are preparing for college are completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. But there are some rule changes in the impact of the pandemic on families' personal finances that can affect a student's potential financial aid. WSJ contributor Cheryl Winokur-Monk is our go-to resource for issues that families need to be aware of as they prepare to tackle the cost of a college education. And she's with me now to discuss. Cheryl, thanks so much for being here. Thanks for having me.
Why are fewer students completing the FAFSA and who is affected?
So, Cheryl, you've been on with us before talking about how the number of students who fill out the FAFSA has been on the decline. Why is that? And is that still going on?
It's definitely been on the decline. Only 68 percent of families with undergraduate students completed the FAFSA. And that's for academic year 2020 and 2021. And that's a decline from the prior two years, according to Sally Mays, How America Pays for College. So there's lots of reasons families may not fill out the FAFSA. They may think they're not going to get money. They think they may make too much money, for example. But a recent poll from LendingTree's Student Loan Hero unit found that 85% of undergrads didn't even know that FAFSA determines eligibility for things like grants and work study in addition to loans. So it's a combination of reasons they're not filling it out.
Now, I wanted to ask you just to refresh us a bit on the kinds of benefits that are available through the FAFSA.
What types of federal and state aid does the FAFSA make students eligible for?
So it's really the entry point to getting any kind of federal aid. So a Pell Grant, for example, if you're eligible, student loans, and federal work study, which allows you to earn money and get paid for it and help defray the cost of college. You often have to fill out the FAFSA in order to be eligible for state aid as well, as well as school-based aid and even some scholarships.
Now, students and families are filling out the FAFSA now for the 2022-23 school year, but how could the economic impact of the pandemic last year affect the financial aid that a student could receive?
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:39
2
What changes to FAFSA should families know about for the 2022–23 school year?
0:39–2:32
3
Why are fewer students completing the FAFSA and who is affected?
2:32–3:21
4
What types of federal and state aid does the FAFSA make students eligible for?
3:21–5:53
5
How does using the 'prior‑prior' tax year (2020) impact pandemic‑era finances on the FAFSA?
5:53–8:22
Speakers
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