LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Several nonprofits came together on Wednesday night to help high school students and their parents fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
Communities In Schools of Nevada partnered with Fulfillment Fund Las Vegas and the United States Department of Education for the educational event held at Desert Pines High School.
“It’s been pretty difficult to navigate for me and my family since I’m the first in my family that's planning to attend college,” said Dafne Guerrero, a senior at El Dorado High School.
Guerrero was one of dozens of students who attended the event. Those in attendance were able to get one-on-one assistance filling out the new FAFSA form.
This year, the FAFSA form was updated with the goal of making it more user-friendly and approachable for those applying for aid.
“It’s really just transforming the whole thing, which created some delays this year,” said Miguel Cardona, the U.S. Secretary of Education. “We’re fixing it for many generations to come.”
Cardona attended the event and spoke about the importance of financial aid for students and their families. He also addressed some of the issues that have come up with processing some of the FAFSA forms since the application was updated.
“85% of the student records that schools have now, they can move forward with. It’s the small percentage from the tax information that was sent that has to be re-processed,” Cardona said.
The problem involves tax data transferred from the Internal Revenue Service and impacts fewer than 20% of the FAFSA forms already submitted by students and families this year..
That, plus some delays and glitches, has left many students limbo as they decide where to enroll next year and whether they can afford to attend their school of choice.
