White County College Advisor: New FASFA Form & Changes Unknowns

The parents of high school students are awaiting new financial aid forms from the federal government in the next few weeks.

White County High School College Advisor Suzanne Rushing said the new FASFA form is an unknown at this point. Rushing said no one has seen the new FASFA form touted by the federal government as simplified.

“There’s a lot of unknown about what FASFA will actually look like,” Rushing said. “You’re right there, the federal government is billing that it will be a quote, unquote simplified FASFA. I think everyone is waiting with bated breath to see if that actually will be the case.”

Rushing said this is the first time since 2016, FASFA has not been open to fill out on October 1, making the timeline shorter for students. Training does not begin until mid-December, and the form will not be available until December 31. She said she’s urging and parents and students to make sure they have their ID ready.

Rushing said she hopes the form makes things easier for students and parents, but the unknown creates room for doubt.

“I try to look at it in a positive way,” Rushing said. “Okay, we’re going to trust this process, so what can we do now to get prepared for that. The main thing I’m stressing with our students, they need to create their FSA ID. It’s a very easy thing to create, student aid dot gov. It is in essence their username and password and that will serve as their digital signature.”

Rushing said there was a lot of room for improvement on the old FASFA form.

“Sometimes the FASFA can be very intimidating for students, even for first time generation college students, for their families,” Rushing said. “That’s what I love about my job, because I have been a parent. I am a parent. I’ve walked on that side of things as well as being here. I just want to try to make that process as simple as possible.”

Rushing said she will be offering classes to students and parents at the start of the year to help with the transition process. She said she encourages every senior to fill out a FASFA form.

“I think of the FASFA as the door,” Rushing said. “When you open that door you complete that application that is required by college and universities, TCATs and all of that. When you open that door, then you are opening yourself up to possible federal aid.”