Fort Worth ISD principal shares tips for filling out this year’s FAFSA form

This year’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is open to all students and families. Completing the form is essential to determining whether you are eligible for college and receive federal financial aid.

Last year’s online application process was fraught with glitches, resulting in a significant drop in the number of applicants completing the form, as well as delays in student finance offers for those who qualified.

The Report’s Shomial Ahmad spoke with Fort Worth ISD Director of Secondary Student Engagement Christina Galanis for advice on filling out and submitting this year’s financial aid form.

The interview has been edited for clarity and space.

Shomial Ahmad: Why is it important for people thinking about college to fill out the FAFSA?

Christina Galanis: Essentially, the FAFSA determines how much the government will subsidize a student’s education through things like federal Pell grants or subsidized or unsubsidized federal loans. With subsidized loans, the federal government subsidizes the interest on these loans while you’re in college, so you don’t incur any interest during those years. Unsubsidized loans will accrue interest while you study.

Many families do not apply because they think they are not eligible, especially when it comes to wealthier families. However, many scholarships, including institutional scholarships from a college, require the FAFSA before a student is even considered for a scholarship.

Even if a family is wealthier and is considering not applying, they may disqualify their student from eligibility for institutional scholarship funds if the FAFSA application is not on file. We strongly recommend that every student complete the FAFSA. If he does not have a Social Security number and is not eligible for the FAFSA, he should complete the TASFA – Texas Application for State Financial Aid – which is only applicable to Texas public colleges.

Ahmad: What information should a student collect and have in front of them when filling out the FAFSA?

Galanis: You will need your social security number. You will need their parents’ full names, marital status and date of birth.

You will also need to create your FSA ID. The FSA ID is essentially your login for the FAFSA and you can create it at studentaid.gov even before the online FAFSA application opens.

Your parent – ​​and possibly both parents, depending on their parenting situation – will need an FSA card. These ID cards should be created in advance. So if there’s a verification process or problems creating these IDs, it’s all taken care of before they sit down and submit an application.

Students and parents should double-check the information they enter for their FSA ID. If you make a mistake on your birthday or something similar, it can cause problems later.

It’s also a good idea to have 2023 tax forms handy. The online application can import tax data, but if something goes wrong during the linking, you can enter the information manually.

Ahmad: What does the FAFSA application process look like?

Galanis: Students can go to the FAFSA website and enter their FSA ID. It used to be a form. Now the student and the parent log in separately and do their own part separately. The student must identify who the contributor will be for their FAFSA.

Basic demographic information and financial status questions are asked. There is an option to link directly to the IRS website to retrieve federal income tax return data. This is 99.99% recommended as it speeds up processing significantly.

Ultimately, a financial aid report is spit out and sent to the student. This will inform the student of their potential income and funding from the federal government in the form of a Federal Pell Grant. It also lists all colleges to which the student can send the FAFSA.

Ahmad: When do you recommend students to apply?

Galanis: As quickly as possible. As far as I know, they are processed by the US Department of Education in the order they are received. So if there are any problems, the sooner you apply, the faster these problems will be resolved.

Although they have extended the priority deadline for the FAFSA to January 31st, it is definitely recommended that you do not wait until the last day of the priority deadline to apply. That would assume that everything is going smoothly and smoothly, but that may not be the case. However, there is no real deadline for the FAFSA.

Ahmad: What problems did you have with the FAFSA form last year?

Galanis: One of the issues we encountered last year involved students who are citizens but have undocumented parents. There have been many status verification issues regarding citizenship status. As a result, these students’ forms were not processed because not all forms of those required to contribute were completed. They could not complete their process. These students’ FAFSA results were significantly delayed. Now the Ministry of Education has announced that it will fix these problems. We should have a much better experience this year, but it remains to be seen what happens next.

Ahmad: What type of help is offered by Fort Worth ISD and others in Tarrant County?

Galanis: FWISD has a partnership with the Tarrant To & Through Partnership and the TCU College Advising Corps. They oversee our GO Centers, which provide real-time assistance to students on campus during the school day. Students can complete their forms during lunch or after completing their work in a class.

Our campuses host FAFSA events where students and parents can come to school and receive assistance with form preparation. Students can access some online resources through the FWISD website and the nonprofit educational organization uAspire. I would recommend that anyone who is having difficulty filling out the form seek help, be it at a help center, speaking to their counselor or at a GO Center.

Shomial Ahmad is a higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report in association with Open campus. Contact her at [email protected].

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