Dear FAFSA,
Plain and simple, you’re the worst.
You’re long, frustrating and confusing. And I can never seem to remember my PIN.
When I think FAFSA, I think "false hope," because really, that’s all you are. You fill me with hope for grants and an affordable college education, but when it comes down to it, you always disappoint.
“You may be eligible for [insert grant names],” you always say. But am I ever really able to get those things? No. I’m not. And you know that, but you still fill me with hope, only to crush me later on when my financial aid package is revealed.
Why do you just assume I’m a dependent? (C’mon, FAFSA, haven’t you ever heard what they say about assuming?) Why don’t you give me the option to tell you whether or not my parents are claiming me as a dependent on their taxes? Why do you force me to include their income…even though they’re not contributing that income to my education?
And seriously, how in the world do you come up with that estimated family contribution (EFC) number? I’m convinced that it’s a randomly generated number, because you cannot possibly believe that my family has the capability to pay that much money.
Are you forgetting they have far too many bills and other expenses to take care of as it is? Do you expect them (and my siblings) to go without food or fun, so I can go to college? Because if they forked over that kind of money, that’s what would happen.
I’m not alone, FAFSA. There are so many others in my position—our parents make too much for us to receive any grants, but they don’t make enough to actually contribute to our tuition.
What’s worse? You punish the people and families who worked hard and sacrificed to save. The more they’ve got put aside in the bank, the less you say they need, regardless if it’s barely enough to cover one semester for one child (imagine the families with several children who had intentions of splitting those savings between the kids—that’s something the FAFSA doesn’t account for).
I’m shoulder-deep in student loans, FAFSA, and it’s stressing me out. All you ever do is make it worse.
If you’re not going to be helpful, just be upfront about it. Stop giving us false hope. That’s the least you could do.
Sincerely,
A frustrated, broke college student
