Application process for federal financial aid undergoing big changes

Southwest Tennessee Community College Director of Admissions, Recruitment, and K-12 Policy Rosie Britton says last year Tennessee families left more than $2 billion in student aid unclaimed due to missed opportunities or missed information regarding the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).This year students will have less time to start the application process.The FAFSA application process has historically run from October 1 through June 30 but this year it will open no later than December 31.Britton joined Dr. Roderick Johnson, Director of Financial Aid at LeMoyne-Owen College, and Memphis Shelby County Schools High School Counseling Manager Constance Certion last week on the Voices of Memphis-Shelby County Schools to encourage students to take advantage of the FAFSA aid others have missed out on.“That’s a lot of aid that could have gone towards helping a lot of students and covering many of their financial aid needs,” said Britton.The new application start date isn’t the only change the federal government has made to the FAFSA this year.The application has 26 fewer questions than last year, significantly decreasing the amount of time it will take to finish and submit and federal financial aid eligibility will be extended to more students.Memphis-Shelby County Schools plans to provide families with resources to help complete the FAFSA application and take advantage of available federal funding.“See your high school counselor or your senior counselor for a copy of the FSA ID worksheet,” said Certion. “There’s a step-by-step guide and it tells you exactly the information you’ll need in order to create your FSA ID.”The most important thing for families to do now, ahead of the application release, is to create their FSA ID, which will take approximately three days to process once created. Before students can complete their FAFSA, they must be equipped with an FSA ID.In Tennessee, students who complete their FAFSA are also eligible for the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship Program (TELS), which enters students into a lottery for further financial aid based on need.“The state of Tennessee has a huge advantage that a lot of states don’t,” said Dr. Johnson. “The lottery program, once a student does his or her FAFSA application and the institution participates in the lottery program, that’s more money that you have in a pot that you are now eligible for based off of you doing the FAFSA application.”