SAN ANTONIO – For many students and their parents, applying for financial aid can be a tough part of the college application process. FAFSA, or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, has changed over the years, and a local nonprofit is looking to assist anyone who needs help filling out forms and starting their higher education journey.
“Sometimes people just need somebody to guide them through the college applications or the financial aid applications,“ said Christi Garza, a program director with the San Antonio Education Partnership. ”You know, just helping them to identify where they need to start.”
The San Antonio Education Partnership, or SAEP, works in more than 30 schools around the San Antonio area, providing free advising for the college application process, which includes going through FAFSA.
“This year’s been a little bit easier than last year in comparison. Less glitches, you know, less hurdles that students had to overcome,” Garza continued.
Aaron Vasquez is one of those students who has gotten help with his FAFSA application with SAEP. He’s looking to break into the fashion industry after creating and wearing his own clothes.
“It’s a little confusing, I’m not gonna lie. It’s a lot of information I need to put out there,” he said. "I would say I’m glad I’m just taking the first step, you know, and finally getting this started, getting the ball rolling."
SAEP says not all questions about FAFSA come from filling out forms. In March, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to start dismantling the Department of Education. How that will impact FAFSA and other financial aid forms has yet to be seen.
In the meantime, SAEP is still encouraging people to fill out FAFSA since many other universities and schools use that data to determine their own financial aid.
“We don’t know what we don’t know when it comes to all the changes that are happening in the government,” Garza said. “We can just kind of hope that those Pell funds will still be available, those grants will still be available to students both federally and at the state level.”
The SAEP has appointments available if you’d like to get help with your college journey. You can find out more information on virtual appointments and help at their physical location in CafeCollege by visiting their website here.
