The FAFSA fallout

The ripple effects of wholesale changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid last summer are still being felt at JMU.

Among the changes:
· The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) was replaced by the Student Aid Index (SAI). Colleges now use the SAI to determine a student’s financial need by subtracting it from the Cost of Attendance (COI).
· The form requires automated transfer of tax data, which increases the number of students who are eligible for Federal Pell Grants.
· The new need analysis formula removes the number of family members in college from the calculation.

Meghan Healy, a sophomore federal work-study student in the Office of Financial Aid, knows these changes all too well. “Every time anybody calls in, I’m one of the people who answers the phone. We just work through whatever issue they’re having regarding financial aid,” she said.

Healy herself depends on financial aid to attend JMU. Her FAFSA for the 2023-24 academic year took into account that her older brother is also in college. But the current FAFSA doesn’t factor that into the equation, meaning she would have to pay more out of pocket than she had in the previous year.

Additionally, Healy’s original EFC of $5,000 qualified her for a Pell Grant and other state grants, with the maximum amount of federal loans plus work-study. “Essentially I was able to use my aid to pay for school completely,” Healy said.

However, that changed with the new FAFSA requirements. “The new changes put me out of the Pell Grant range and pushed me out of the state-grant range,” she said, “so the only thing I had left was my federal loans, and I’m still in the work-study range.”

Healy looked into private loans, but most of them required a cosigner, and since she’s putting herself through school, that option was limited.

After losing most of her financial aid, Healy thought she might not be able to return to JMU. “I looked into a school closer to home that I could commute to and live at home,” she said. “It definitely was really frustrating, and I genuinely didn’t know what I was going to do.” After much consideration, she ultimately decided to remain a Duke.

JMU did end up offering Healy a scholarship, but it was only about half of what she was previously receiving in aid. 

“The school will try to fill that need as best it can,” she said.

JMU offers resources to students in need, including a food pantry and help with utilities through the Utilities Deposit Assistance Program. Last year, when Healy’s laptop broke, she was able to rent one from JMU, which alleviated some stress.

“We are very hopeful that now that we’ve had our first year of this new FAFSA, there’s not going to be as much disruption and issues as last year,” said Adrianna Penn, customer service supervisor for Financial Aid, adding the 2025-26 FAFSA cycle is already ahead of 2024. “Last year’s release was in early January, so based on that, I am looking forward to this being a smoother year,” she said.

JMU’s 2025-26 FAFSA priority filing date was March 1. Although it’s not a hard deadline, Brad Barnett, associate vice president for Enrollment Management and director of Financial Aid and Scholarships, encourages students to complete the form as early as possible.

“In some cases, students can receive thousands of dollars in grant money by doing this, while missing a deadline could cause them to miss out on that money,” he said.