MINNEAPOLIS — There's a new form for federal financial aid and experts say it's faster to fill out and easier to understand.
But several applicants say they've encountered some growing pains with the new system.
"Things were off to a little bit of a bumpy start,” Rachel Rotunda says.
Rotunda is the director of government relations at the National Association for Student Financial Aid Administrators.
She says there is some irony in this situation, as the Education Department created the new FAFSA form to make the process easier for families to fill out, but this week accessing the form has never been more difficult.
“We did see some periods of time over the first couple of days where the form was live where the form was pulled down for maintenance. During those periods of time, students and families haven’t been able to access the form, which has understandably caused some frustration.”
Rotunda says the Education Department did issue a warning that during this “soft launch” of the new system there would be glitches, and at times, the form would not be available during scheduled maintenance sessions.
On Thursday, Rotunda says she and her colleagues have now noticed a significant improvement in the accessibility of the new system.
"Fortunately, those periods of pause where families haven't been able to access the form have gotten shorter and they're not as frequent. So, it seems like some of those issues are getting better."
One of the biggest changes with the new FAFSA, is applicants can quickly access their tax information and avoid answering dozens of questions.
"A lot of the applicant information will actually be pulled over from the IRS,” Rotunda says.
The Education Department says many applicants will now be able to complete the form in less than 10 minutes.
Rotunda says more students will also be eligible for Pell Grants under this new system.
In the long run, she says the changes will be mostly positive, but in the short term she's encouraging families to be patient.
"If you have trouble getting it one time, try it a different time. Try off peak hours; don't give up."
The Minnesota Department of Higher Education says the deadline to fill out the FAFSA form is June 30, so families have plenty of time.
Rotunda says a lot of universities will likely be more lenient with their deadlines as well given the unique challenges with FAFSA this year.
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