As Three Rivers College waits in limbo for 2024-2025 FAFSA applications to open, it is making sure school counselors and their students are ready to move when the date arrives.
“Due to what they refer to as the FAFSA Simplification Act, they are revamping the whole FAFSA. They’re trying to make it more convenient for the students,” explained Ann Matthews, TRC dean of Student Services.
FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and refers to the form itself, not the financial aid. The application connects students with federal grants, work-study funds and loans, and the information therein helps states and colleges determine eligibility for futher aid.
In a presentation to the TRC board of trustees Oct. 18, Director Of Financial Aid Regina Morris explained, “This is probably the first overhaul of financial aid since the 80s. They’re actually supposed to be reducing the FAFSA down from about 108 questions, I believe, to around 46.”
Morris stated FAFSA typically opens at the beginning of October, and TRC coordinates with local high schools to get eligible students signed up through financial aid workshops.
“(We’ve) got all of October, November, December to try and get those FAFSAs completed for those high school students,” she said.
“As far as our high school students, usually at this point in the semester, we are doing financial aid workshops for our students who’re getting ready to graduate, with the high schools, and we’ve had to delay those till January and February,” Matthews added.
The new opening date will be sometime in December.
Additionally, priority filing will not be pushed back this year.
“We just received notification that the state of Missouri will not be expanding their priority deadline, which is February the 1st,” said Matthews.
She and Morris hoped the state would reevaluate.
The delay was the main topic of this year’s MASFAP High School Workshop at TRC. There were 26 school counselors in attendance, according to Morris. TRC advised them to help students and parents get ready by preparing their Financial Student Aid IDs. An FSA ID is an electronic identification method for applicants, and is required to receive state aid.
“We have been hosting the counselors’ workshop the last couple of years here on campus so that we can relate all the information to our high school counselors. And this year was over the 2024-25 FAFSA delay with all the changes, and what they could do to possibly help prepare their students and parents to be able to submit that FAFSA in January or December,” Matthews said. “The best thing that they can do is to make sure that they have an updated FSA ID, as well as (that) each contributor has an FSA ID.”
The term contributor is replacing parent in FAFSA terminology, she added.
Morris encouraged families and students with questions to reach out for help.
“If they have questions, they can call us and we’ll help them,” she said.
The Financial Aid Office can be reached at financialaid@trcc.edu or 573-840-9606. More information about FAFSA is available on studentaid.gov.