The Free Application for Federal Student Aid has been a national headache for weeks now.

It all began back in 2020, when Congress approved the FAFSA Simplification Act, in an attempt to make filling out the form easier for families. Since most states require students to submit a FAFSA application, the United States populus demanded a change.

The old FAFSA would require potential students, or their parents, to fill out a long, complicated form that would feature roughly a hundred questions regarding the family’s living situation.

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The goal of the new FAFSA was to simplify the process, with only around 50 questions. The new application was designed to make it much easier for the government to provide benefits to families in need.

However, it has been proven to be a more tenuous process, at least in the beginning.

Jessica Guthrie, the mother of one (potentially two) Southern Illinois University students, experienced this firsthand.

“It was glitchy. So, it’s more streamlined than it looked like in years past, because I’ve had to fill it out for Will, my oldest son, for the past four years. And now I’m filling it out for my youngest who’s going to college in the fall […] But there were a couple glitches here and there as I tried to get it filled out last night,” said Guthrie, who is the business manager for the Daily Egyptian.

The new site was delayed for months, leaving many families curious as to when they would even be able to apply. The updated system dropped December 31, 2023, on the last possible date it could legally go online.

Wendell Williams, the associate vice chancellor of enrollment management at SIU said,“For the last five to six months, we have been familiar with what’s been going on with the FAFSA and we just sat back. We took a lot of proactive steps to see what we could do to help ease some of the concern from our local high schools, and the local students.”

As soon as the new FAFSA was up, people immediately started noticing problems. You could only complete the form at certain times of the day, and there were many problems getting logged into pre-existing accounts.

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“Even though they said the testing phase should be over and the website should be up from 8am-8pm eastern time, they’re still struggling,” Guthrie said.

She said she was put in a ‘virtual waiting room’ her first time attempting to complete it. After 25 minutes or so, she decided to wait and try again the next day.

On her second attempt, she was able to log into the system and create an account for her youngest son. But, when asked to verify his email and phone number, it took the verification three attempts just to work.

“I am not the only one. I am friends with some of Xan’s classmates’ mothers and a lot of people are having a lot of trouble logging on [or] they can’t even get on. It’s saying that it’s down for maintenance,” she said.

Another parent, the mother of two current SIU students, said the process feels repetitive. With all the changes, Tiffany Day felt one more should’ve been included.

“The whole form itself is kind of a pain for the parent, especially with multiple children. So for people with multiple kids in college, they have to fill in the same information more than one time,” Day said.

She acknowledged she was luckier than most when trying to complete the FAFSA, but Day has seen a lot of discussion on Facebook surrounding the glitches in the system.

Worry has started to build for families on whether or not their child will be accepted for priority deadline at particular schools. A lot of future students’ decisions on where to spend the next four years rests on submission of the FAFSA.

“They want to be able to select their college but they need to get their FAFSA in so that their scholarship offers can come out to them, so then they can select what colleges are going to be the best fit for their field of study as well as their budget,” Guthrie said.

Williams wants to emphasize that Southern Illinois families can rest easy and that it’ll all get itself figured out in time.

“The message that needs to get out right now, is to stay calm,” he said.

Williams said Southern Illinois University has a plan in place to make this less stressful for everyone involved. It is his understanding that SIU will make adjustments accordingly.

“This coming year with things the way that they are, all of those deadlines are going to be pushed based upon when students can get in, and so we’re going to accommodate,” Williams said.

Because the site has been open for just a couple weeks now, he compares it to years ago when the healthcare insurance system was launched. In his eyes, there is no need to panic.

“Students and families will have ample time to complete the 2024-2025 FAFSA, and they don’t need to rush and fill out the form immediately,” Williams said.

With all the confusion this year, there are questions from Illinois residents as to whether or not completing the FAFSA should even be mandated. If parents know they won’t be receiving money, why should they have to go through this all in the first place?

Guthrie understands the sentiment from some residents, but overall, thinks it’s a good regulation. It is there to benefit as many people as possible.

“By putting some of these things in place, you’re just leveling the playing field for all students regardless of their home lives,” Guthrie said.

Day doesn’t have a problem with everyone completing the FAFSA. However, there is a glaring hole in the setup she has a problem with.

“My girls worked through high school and built up a savings account to go to college. So they’re having to report their saved income which is really at a disadvantage to them. If my kids have 7k built up in their savings account, that counts against what they can earn as loan money,” she said. “So I don’t really think it’s fair to the kids who have saved up a bit. You’re better off to have nothing in your savings account.”

Day argues these are the inconsistencies that makes her question why completing the FAFSA is mandated for all Illinois residents.

Williams said roughly 95% of students have some sort of financial assistance while attending SIU. And while all that may not be through the FAFSA, the application gives the university an understanding of who needs aid.

“We want every student, especially with the new FAFSA, to complete it. And the reason why is that a lot of our scholarships are need-based scholarships and we use that FAFSA to determine that need,” Williams said.

The completion of the FAFSA is obviously of the utmost importance, not just for parents but for the universities themselves. Luckily, the bill passed in 2020 wasn’t for nothing.

Day and Guthrie have noted that the form itself is actually much easier to complete.

“The process for the parent part was way quicker. I probably got mine completed in under a half hour,” Day said.

Guthrie said, “So far, with the exception of the glitches, everything has been easy. It was all information I had on hand that I knew I would need.”

Because the form is a whole lot easier, it has become more plausible for students to actually complete it themselves, without parental aid.

SIU’s Director of Financial Aid, Elyse Weller, provided a list of events the university will be hosting to encourage students to complete the FAFSA. This list includes hosting regional FAFSA nights at local high schools starting this week through the month of February.

The Financial Aid Office will also be hosting several FAFSA aid workshops at Morris Library the first week of the Spring semester. These will be held from 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. from January 16-19.

On Jan. 19, the office will partner for an extended FAFSA-assistance night from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. with the Black Affairs Council.

“Our students can rest-assured that we are doing everything possible to serve them the best that we can,” Williams said.

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