CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice’s state of emergency he declared earlier this week due to ongoing problems with the free application for federal student aid, also known as FAFSA, is making a difference, according to the state Higher Education Policy Commission.
“That action allowed 4,700 students in the state of West Virginia to automatically get scholarships and grants that they deserved,” HEPC Chancellor Dr. Sarah Armstrong Tucker said on Thursday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
The governor’s declaration allows state funding to flow to students without the FAFSA requirement. The move is helping students who have applied for the state’s Promise Scholarship and for the need-based higher education grant.
“We had thousands of students who qualified for grants who weren’t able to get it because they didn’t have a FAFSA,” Tucker said.
Students who apply for the Promise scholarship by Sept.1 will receive an award of up to $5,500 for the coming academic year. If a student completed last year’s FAFSA and qualifies for the need-based higher education grant, they will receive the award of up to $3,400 for the fall semester.
Tucker said they’re working with the state Department of Human Services to get incoming freshman students who don’t have a FAFSA the money they need to go to college.
“We know that if a freshman is coming to one of our institutions and their family qualifies for SNAP, for TANF, for Medicaid, for CHIP, for WIC or for the Child Care Subsidy program, that student is also going to qualify for higher ed grants,” she said.
May 1 is traditionally National College Decision Day for high school seniors, but this year many students are still waiting for critical answers about their financial aid because of the delayed rollout of the government’s new FAFSA form. Colleges and universities are trying to manually get students through the process.
Tucker encourages students to continue applying for the FAFSA despite ongoing problems.
“The maximum amount that they can receive from the federal government is $7,395. That is a lot of money to put toward your college education, so it is worth trying and trying again,” she said.
Tucker directed people to collegeforwv.com or suggested calling the financial aid hotline at 1-877-987-7664.
Earlier this week, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) questioned U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona about problems with the FAFSA to which Cardona replied that the form now takes about 15 minutes to complete.
Gov. Justice said there’s been a 40 percent decline in FAFSA completion for West Virginia high school students this year due to the federal government delay.