When the FAFSA is Harder to Navigate than College

By Nayeli Tirado

I remember the burst of joy I felt the moment I opened my acceptance letter to UC Berkeley. I rushed over to my friend. We jumped and yelled with excitement. At that moment I felt a sense of relief “I made it, this is it. I can relax now”. Today, I am now a Junior in college and am realizing that that was not the end, but the beginning of a long road full of educational barriers and obstacles. At that age I didn't consider how difficult it would be to fund my college career, especially when the systems in place are not meant to benefit you. 

Like most students, around winter time I began the FAFSA application with my mom. In the past, in the section that asks for parent social security numbers, I was able to submit it by typing out “000-00-0000”. What I failed to realize was that FAFSA made some changes to the application. The technique that at one point worked rendered my application invalid for the following school year. After calling FAFSA we realized that the application needed to be printed out and physically mailed in. We had to do this in the past, so it was a burden, but not unfamiliar. However, a few days ago I was sent an email notifying me that the FAFSA application was, once again, altered to fix certain errors, including the SSN section. It stated that even if I mailed out the FAFSA physically, I would have to re-submit the application electronically in order to receive financial aid. This will be my third time filling out the FAFSA for the 2024/25 academic school year. 

Frustration would be an understatement to how this process has made me feel. Students like myself work hard to get accepted to renowned universities like Berkeley, only to be reminded that these institutions are not meant to benefit people like me. It never made much sense to why they needed my parents’ social security in the first place. It's my education on the line, why should their immigration status matter?

In the end, I will most likely receive financial aid, but I find it concerning that my FAFSA will have to be officially submitted only a couple of weeks before the deadline. Some of the aid offered is on a first-come first-served basis, leaving me at a disadvantage. I realize I am not the only student facing this challenge, making the situation worse. Public universities used to be free and accessible. Today they charge nearly forty thousand dollars in tuition, and on top of that, they make financial aid more difficult for those who need it most. If universities are going to charge tens of thousands of dollars, they need to make sure their system for aid is equitable, fair and accessible to ALL.