Students Urged To Apply For Federal Aid

DELAWARE. –   As Delaware’s state deadline for financial aid approaches, why students may not be applying is the biggest concern.

The U.S. Department of education says that the decline could be due to students not being in school. “Alot of students have not been in school where there are natural cues to fill out the FAFSA. There’s either posters, guidance counselors, teachers, or coaches, or someone telling them they should take the time to fill out their FAFSA,” said Director of Customer Analytics Ed Pacchetti.

Financial Aid personnel at Delaware State University say that the lack of applications could be due to fear, reminding students and parents that federal aid is free and to watch out for scams. “I’ve heard of some that charge hundreds or thousands of dollars to complete a FAFSA, which in definition is free. That’s the first F in FAFSA,” said Assoc. Director of Financial Aid Compliance Douglas Wilson.

Officials say there’s still time to change the decline in the state and that may be easier than you think. We’re told students have access to the FAFSA application right on their phones.
Also, even if they’re not sure if they’ll attend school this fall students are still urged to apply. “We just want to remind students and parents that filling out the FAFSA now give them options later,” said Pacchetti.

Though the state deadline is approaching, the federal deadline isn’t until the summer. Officials say students should also be applying for that now to avoid problems later. “Yes, many schools have automated process but if there are some applications that may have some sort of error or red flag and your eligibility is in question. In order to resolve that you rather resolve it now than later,” said Wilson.

The Department of Education also wants to remind students that colleges and universities use information from the FAFSA in order to give out aid through their institutions.