Problems are currently arising with the Free Application of Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) deadlines. The editors of The Equinox strongly believe Keene State College’s administration should focus on pushing the deadline further, which will benefit the most students.
The new FAFSA form was released on Dec. 31, 2023 and disaster followed. The website experienced very high traffic leading to crashes. With the website crashing, many students were not able to fill out the form at a normal time.
The deadline to fill out the FAFSA form is March 1, however, we feel this is not a fair deadline. With many students not being able to fill out the form at an earlier time, they should be given as much time to complete it as possible. It would not be much of a detriment to the college and, in fact, might actually favor Keene State College instead.
Legally speaking, a college can have a deadline to fill out a FAFSA form of May 1. We think this is a much more fair deadline so students can properly make up the time which was tragically lost.
It is our understanding that if Keene State College can have a later deadline, then it definitely should. Having a later deadline could be an incredibly great thing as well.
Something the college looks forward to is a high retention rate. We figure there is no better way to get a retention rate higher than to allow students more time to fill out the forms they need.
Many students find government forms to be boring, if not daunting. They might put off filling out them for a while, but still eventually get around to it. We reckon just because a student is a tad overwhelmed, they should not be punished. Having a later deadline would be great to lessen some of the burden for these students.
An extension to the deadline is certainly called for this year, so why not take the chance? Student aid is perhaps one of the most important things when it comes to students applying for college. The school should absolutely take what appeals to a student in mind.
Doing more to appeal to students will help out with getting a higher retention rate. We want Keene State College to do the absolute best it can, which means the school should do the maximum amount of appealing to students as possible. This does not mean the college should put itself in harm’s way to appeal to students. Only that the majority of the thought process should go into how the students are being treated.
This is a sure way to keep retention rates at an all time high. With that being said, what will appeal to most students would be to get the deadline of the FAFSA forms to its legal limit.
We love Keene State College and in order to show just how great it is, changes to the FAFSA deadline should be taken into consideration.
