HARRISBURG, Pa. - The pandemic and its impact on the economy has changed some families' financial situations and affected their ability to pay college tuition. According to a recent survey, nearly 40% of parents who didn’t originally plan on applying for federal aid now will. And as WLVR’s Chloe Nouvelle reports, time is of the essence.
With survey data suggesting more families will be looking at using federal funding to help pay for college in 2020, financial aid officials recommend finishing the US Department of Education’s free application for federal student aid, or FAFSA, sooner rather than later.
Tracey Richards, Director of Financial Aid at Lehigh Carbon Community College, explained why.
“There is some federal aid that is awarded on a first come first serve basis,” said Richards.
And more families may be scrambling to send colleges additional documents this year. That’s because the FAFSA and aid packages will be based on 2019 income. So it won’t account for any of 2020’s job losses. In order to update your income, Richards says you have to go directly to your school.
“We can make that adjustment on the FAFSA to reflect what your true financial picture looks like today. Not what it looked like a year or two years ago.”
Both of Lehigh Valley’s community colleges, NCC and LCCC, are running one-on-one Zoom sessions for families looking for help completing their aid applications.
You can find more information about these sessions on the colleges' websites.