ST. LOUIS — Summer vacation is fast approaching for St. Louis Public School District students.
Thursday is the last day of school for the district, and that means it's crunch time for future college students. It comes after a botched rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The application is required if students want to be considered for federal grants, work-study funds and loans.
The application became available months later than expected and had several issues including some families' tax data being transferred inaccurately from the Internal Revenue Service.
School college admissions and career specialists, such as JuMah Fennoy, are going above and beyond to make sure high schoolers get the most financial aid possible. Fennoy works with students inside of Clyde C. Miller Career Academy. It's a job she loves and has done since 2015.
"Start early and don't be intimidated," Fennoy said.
The major changes to the new FAFSA application for 2024-2025 include:
- The application asks 108 fewer questions.
- All contributors need an FSA ID (could be the student, student's spouse, parent or adoptive parent).
- IRS imports tax information through a direct data exchange to the U.S. Department of Education.
- The Student Aid Index has replaced the Expected Family Contribution.
- The application is available in more languages.
- Students can list up to 20 colleges on their FAFSA application. Previously, they could only list 10.
- The sibling discount has been removed, so parents no longer get a break for having multiple children in college at the same time.
SLPS and area universities said prospective students should submit their FAFSA early and recommend doing so by the end of May to avoid missing out on money for certain grants, scholarships, and work-study.
Counselors like Fennoy are there to help students through the process.
"Ms. Fennoy, I love you so much!" student Raquel Murphy said. "My family never went to college, and she helped me with everything. My mom never had that."
Murphy will attend Harris-Stowe State University, a historical Black college and university this fall of 2024. It's a decision that was made with the help of family and following the footsteps of Fennoy, who also attended Harris-Stowe.
Murphy has 15 college credits due to being in the Early College Academy/Dual Enrollment at HSSU. Fennoy also serves as the academy's dual enrollment counselor. Fennoy and Murphy and her family worked hard throughout the year to secure $50,000 already in scholarships so far for her future. Murphy hopes to study biomedical engineering and said she'll use her summer to continue to apply for more scholarships.
"There are a lot of scholarships out there, and people will give you free money by applying for scholarships. Ms. Fennoy helped me apply for scholarships. I didn't even think I was gonna get it, but I just ended up applying anyway (and got it). I'm more confident in it now," Murphy said. "I'm just so grateful for her (JuMah Fennoy)."
Fennoy said every student in the district deserves a seat at the table.
"It's not a race, just continue to ask those questions, continue to make sure that you talk to your support system and continue to not be intimidated by the application or any process," Fennoy said.
For future college students still looking for scholarship opportunities, Fennoy recommended applying through Scholarship Central for dozens of area scholarships.
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