Letter to Editor: FAFSA, Undeterred
Letter to the editors of the Cranston Herald, Warwick Beacon, and Johnston, submitted on Dec. 8.
Dear Editors:
Nothing should deter students and families from filling out the Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA). If anything, the changes highlighted in your Dec. 6 article (RISLA College Planning Center ready for FAFSA season) should make it easier for more Rhode Islanders to access financial aid to help them earn college credits, career training, or professional certifications. The new FAFSA will have fewer questions, require less paperwork, and be more streamlined than the old system.
Here's the bottom line: If you need money for college, you need to complete the 2024-25 FAFSA when it becomes available in just a few weeks.
As College Planning Center's Stacy Crooks makes clear in your article, there is much to lose: Rhode Island students leave millions on the table each year, "simply because they did not complete the FAFSA."
Thank you for highlighting the role of the College Planning Center (CPC) in helping tens of thousands of students and families across Rhode Island over its 25 years. I have researched and written extensively on the topic of FAFSA and financial aid for an independent project and found their resources and information to be consistently reliable, timely, and high-quality. But it is their outreach and collaboration with school districts that is perhaps most impressive. Last month, Cranston East High School welcomed CPC to host an English and Spanish information session; it was just one of several such events they host each week. Anyone with financial aid questions should go to their web site and book a free 1:1 appointment for January.
Rhode Island has been a college affordability pioneer for decades, beginning with Senator Claiborne Pell's vision for a "GI Bill for all", which culminated in his landmark federal financial aid system established in 1972. Senator Jack Reed continued the tradition by leading the passage of the bipartisan FAFSA Simplification Act of 2020.
Gov. Dan McKee's Learn365RI initiative continues the tradition by making FAFSA completion rates one of three priorities for the disbursement of $3.8 million in municipal grants. I had the opportunity to see the initiative come to life by hosting FAFSA preparation workshops in partnership with the Human Services Department of Richmond. (The event is sponsored by Learn365RI grants).
Closer to home, I recently hosted a FAFSA workshop at OneCranston HEZ's The Huddle Center and it was inspiring. FAFSA and financial aid can be intimidating and overwhelming, especially for groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in higher education. But when you focus on why people want to earn their degree, these conversations turn hopeful and aspirational.
Sincerely,
Geoff Decker
