FAFSA season is underway. Carol Exum has seen many changes spanning 26 years of service in the Financial Aid Department, perhaps none bigger than a complete overhaul of the process last year, which brought along lots of glitches.
This year the application process has seen major improvements.
“The questions were cut from 103 to under 35. The Department of Education addressed many problems and has not had nearly as many problems as last year,” Exum said.
As anything else it is not 100% error free, which is the reason for student outreach such as the workshop held on March 6, and again on March 26 at the Jernigan Library Room 253.
One of the recurring challenges faced by the department is continuing students completing their application in a timely manner.
“We are holding these workshops for students to get them done before they go home for Spring or Summer break, so they can relax,” Exum said.
A helpful feature of the workshops is that they are open to parents of students as well.
David Spicak, a Mechanical Engineering student attended the workshop with his father and had their issue resolved after an online system was down.
“The process has been pretty simple,” Spicak said.
Spicak’s advice for incoming students is: “If you just go to the workshop and put in a few hours you’re already done and don’t have to worry about it.”
Luis Juarez, another advisor, understands the importance of student aid.
“I would not be here if it wasn’t for federal student aid. This impacted me and now I have this sense of duty to give back to future students,” Juarez said. “In the blink of an eye it’s going to be summer. We don’t want to tell students this is going to be delayed. If we can start working on that as soon as possible we can get better results.”
Juarez said the best way to reach the office is by phone, but preferably coming into the office.
“Sometimes over the phone questions are difficult to answer. When we show them the number it is not as abstract. We want to make sure they understand,” Juarez explained.
Beyond paper work, both Exum and Juarez showed great enthusiasm for helping students and making the process enjoyable and memorable.
“See us face-to-face, see us smiling, hang out with us, get some popcorn. Know the faces behind the process and know that we’re all here for each other,” Exum said.
The next workshop will be held March 26. The of Office of Student Financial Aid is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday in the MSUB Room 132.