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The student news site of Colonia High School

The Declaration

The student news site of Colonia High School

The Declaration

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Does the new FAFSA update help or hurt college-bound students?

Awaiting+traffic%2C+the+FAFSA+website+at+FAFSA.gov+allows+students+to+create+an+account+and+file+their+applications.
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Awaiting traffic, the FAFSA website at FAFSA.gov allows students to create an account and file their applications.

A recent update to Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) allows college-bound students to apply for financial aid earlier in the school year, with the new October 1st filling date.

Two new developments to the FAFSA process make applying for federal aid easier. The most notable development is the U.S. government’s decision to permanently move the filing date up from January 1st to October 1st. Filling out the FAFSA sooner gives parents and students more time to figure out how to pay for college. The FAFSA determines whether or not students remain eligible for federal financial aid, money that students do not have to pay back.

Additionally, the new October filing date allows for colleges to send out award and scholarship notifications earlier. This would better help first-year students make their admissions decision.

Students and their parents will now file for FAFSAs using the prior year’s income. This means that for this year, the FAFSA will be using  2015 tax and income information. The FAFSA will no longer be using an estimate of income information; this is considered a positive development for students and their parents. Before, when students and parents were filing with estimated information they had to go back into the FAFSA, after the tax return was filed, to update it. 

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Since revealing the early filing date, colleges have recommended that students and parents filing for FAFSA do so early. Financial aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis; meaning, the FAFSA considers students who apply as early as possible for the most, and best aid.

Colonia High School senior, Adwoa Mensah, found the news about this FAFSA update shocking; “I didn’t even know about it. I thought you were supposed to start the FAFSA process after you figured out which college you were going to. Now that I know that I have a better chance of receiving more money if I start now, I’m going to do that. That’ll help me decide what colleges I’ll be able to pay for. It’ll help me make my decision.”

Mensah, who has an older sister that currently attends college, wants to make sure she goes about the entire FAFSA process as accurately as possible; “My mom and my sister don’t think she received as much aid as she could have.”

In fact, Mensah’s older sister isn’t the only one who may not have received her fair share of aid.

An estimate of $3 billion in aid went unclaimed last year because people either didn’t file a FAFSA or didn’t fill one out completely.

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About the Contributor
Mia Banks, Fall Reporter
Mia Banks is a 17 year old senior at Colonia High School. Banks is involved in student council and the multicultural club. Banks is also a member of the National, Spanish and Math Honor Societies. In her free time, Banks enjoys watching the news to catch up on anything, and everything, political. Her interest in politics is what drives Banks’ interest in journalism. Banks also enjoys spending time on social media and searching the web for anything new and exciting related to pop culture. Banks is an only child and enjoys spending time with her extended family; such as any one of her 30 biological first cousins. Banks likes to listen to a multitude of music genres, and enjoys going to concerts. After graduating high school, Banks wants to expand her horizons, and attend college out of state. Banks hopes to major in political science, with a possible minor in journalism.

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The student news site of Colonia High School
Does the new FAFSA update help or hurt college-bound students?