Gordon State College Prepares Students, Parents on the new FAFSA Application
By Karolina Philmon, GSC marketing manager
With the soft launch of the new Federal Application for Free Financial Aid (FAFSA) in late December, Gordon State College financial aid advisors have been working to ensure that Highlanders are well-informed and educated about the latest modifications made to the application process. Congress passed legislation that required the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to make certain changes to the FAFSA form as well as the eligibility rules to federal programs.
During this soft launch period, the FAFSA form has been available for only short periods of time while ED monitored site performance and form functionality. Although much anticipated, the rollout of the new FAFSA has come with some challenges, according to Kristy Riggs, GSC assistant director of financial aid.
“Students and parents have experienced long wait times, and have been kicked out of the application while completing it,” Riggs said. “Due to these issues, the wait times and availability of customer service representatives for the FAFSA helpline have been long.”
Riggs and Heidi Pinney, regional executive director of financial aid at GSC, have been tracking the performance of StudentAid.gov and have been actively communicating any new developments to the GSC community.
“The application itself still has some bugs and the website has not been stable. We have decided to wait until some of those bugs have been worked out to send our students an email instructing them to do the FAFSA,” Riggs said. “Hopefully that will be soon!”
FAFSA results will not be sent to schools by the ED until the beginning of February. However, it is essential for schools to update their software and procedures to accommodate the new application. If students completed their 2024-2025 FAFSA application and haven't received any communication by mid-February, GSC advises reaching out. Once the college receives the applications, GSC will promptly contact students. These notifications will be sent to the students' GSC emails as well as through text messages.
“GSC doesn’t know what the schedule will look like yet in regards to receiving applications and communicating financial aid offers. We are waiting on guidance and updates for our systems as well,” Riggs said. “We encourage our students to stay calm and reach out if they have any questions. There’s still time and we’re here to get them through it.”
The timeline for distributing Financial Aid varies across schools. This year, delays are expected as systems need to be updated to accommodate the new FAFSA application.
For assistance regarding FAFSA including help in completing the application, please contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243, or GSC Financial Aid Office at 678-359-5990. Representatives are available to answer any questions or concerns regarding the existing and the new FAFSA.