FAFSA opens up early

Pretty soon, millions of graduating seniors will be applying to go to college and many of them will need to apply for financial assistance before making any plans. Now, a new change in that application will take a load off for students and families.

“I’m a first generation college student,” Sofia Del Torro said. She is a senior at Coronado High School and hopes to study medicine in Texas.

In order to do that, filling a FAFSA application is a must.

“I’m very stressed about the FAFSA right now because it’s something that’s really important for me. It’s really important for me to go to college, and it’s my stepping stone to college,” Del Torro said.

More than 22 million students complete the FAFSA, or the free application for federal student aid each year.

The application determines just how much money in scholarships, grants, and loans students qualify for. It works on a first come first served basis. And it’s always been available beginning January first but,

“This is the first year we’re going to see the application this early,” Dawn Cornell, a counselor at Coronado High School said.

For the first time–it will be available three months earlier, beginning October first, becoming more aligned with college applications and deadlines.

“It will give me more time to plan out an schedule my deadlines accordingly,” Del Torro said.

“I believe is that it will give students a financial aid package earlier, so it pushes up the process for them in terms of making a decision about where they want to go to school. In the past, when it opened in January and kids were applying later and so it would sometime delay their decision about where they want to go to school.”

And at the end of the day, lifting some of the burden from those like Del Torro.

“I’m really stressed right now, but I’m really excited to see what the future holds and excited about the FAFSA deadline, because it’s something that will help me.”

Schools throughout El Paso will now be holding FAFSA informational meetings for parents in October to align with the new opening date.