What is FAFSA? FAFSA is the free application for federal student aid. Students can apply to determine how much financial aid they receive per college. The money from FAFSA is collected from a percentage of the hardworking US citizen’s federal taxes.

With the increasing price in college every year, high school seniors hesitate to attend college with insufficient funds. Although the tuition itself seems affordable, the housing, meal plans, and transportation fees add up to be a ridiculous number for even one year of college. There are many different financial aid options available that provide students with the money they need to attend their years in college for a degree.

“FAFSA gives an opportunity for high school seniors because students that cannot afford to attend college are more encouraged to apply because they can receive enough financial aid to attend the school,” senior Rachel Min said.

To complete the FAFSA form a series of questions must be answered truthfully. The amount of aid that FAFSA provides is based on the income of a student’s parents. Some information that is required is your social security number and federal code of at most 10 colleges you are applying to. FAFSA is also not on a first come first serve basis as money is funded for all students that are eligible to apply.  

The process to sign up is simple:

1. Input basic information about yourself
2. Fill out the federal code for colleges that you plan on applying to
3. After students have made their FAFSA account, they can access the FAFSA form
4. How much aid that is given out will be notified in 3-5 business days after filling out the form

To complete the FAFSA form a series of questions must be answered truthfully. The amount of aid that FAFSA provides is based on the income of a student’s parents. 

“Some tuitions are crazy expensive. And there’s not many programs that universities give students a choice of where the money goes. Maybe it’s not the best choice for students to go to a college over 50k tuition, but the programs and opportunities for students may be worth it,” said senior Ruby Kamal who has already filled out the form.

With the help of FAFSA students, will be able to experience these programs and opportunities without having to worry about financial instability. This simple process may assist seniors that do not have the financial means to afford the college they want to attend. 

“Absolutely not, the middle class does not receive enough money, it depends, because the thing is if you are in the lower class you get a ton of money. And then upper class have their own money, they don’t really need FAFSA. The middle class is going to get screwed over because they aren’t rich enough to pay college tuition but not poor enough to receive financial aid,” said senior Keeki Jeeva.

However, there is some controversy that lingers within FAFSA and their somewhat flawed system. Inconsistencies between the amount of financial aid that an individual receives is controversial in the way that not even the middle class can afford money easily. 

Regardless, FAFSA has continued to be more fair about parents and their income based on the amount of children a family has relative to how much they earn annually.