Almost a third of families may have missed out on federal financial aid by not submitting a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), according to a national study from Sallie Mae and Gallup.
The FAFSA is the means for applying for financial aid from the federal, state and college levels. There are several reasons U. Nebraska-Lincoln students don’t apply, but those who don’t might miss out on federal grants or loans.
“There could be a number of factors … as income goes up, we would expect to see fewer families applying,” said Craig Munier, director of the UNL Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. “Families with higher incomes have access to more resources to help pay for their children’s education. Many families may wrongly assume they aren’t eligible.”
Matt Heng, a freshman broadcast major at Nebraska, is one student whose family did not fill out their FAFSA.
“My mother is a former financial aid counselor,” he said. “She knew that because of the scholarships I had been awarded and based on our need, I was only going to qualify for loans, and we felt that we could pay for tuition on our own with scholarships and savings.”
Getting the word out to students and their families is important at UNL.
“We usually send an e-mail before our priority deadline reminding students to fill out their FAFSA,” said Deana Unger, associate director of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.
The financial aid office has tried many ways to encourage students to apply for financial aid. The results have been promising: 63 percent of undergraduate and graduate students at UNL fill out their FAFSA every year, according to Munier.
While the 37 percent of UNL students not applying might be higher than the Sallie Mae study’s average, Unger said the diversity of the national study by including one-year, two-year and vocational programs could account for the discrepancy.
Despite these numbers, Unger said she doesn’t believe there is a social stigma associated with applying for financial aid. The application process affords individuals anonymity if they so choose.
“It would be easy to apply for aid and not have to set foot in our office,” Unger said. She said UNL’s affordability might have something to do with the disparity. UNL is among the most affordable schools in both the Big 12 and the Big Ten.
Students are encouraged to apply for financial aid early in the application period to maximize the amount of aid they are awarded.
“We remind students every year that this is the prime time for them to fill out their FAFSA by April 1 if they plan on being enrolled next school year,” Munier said.