Filing FAFSA doesn’t take as much time as you think

One hour. That’s the average amount of time it takes first-time filers to complete the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

That’s less time than it takes to watch half of a college football game, or an episode of “Game of Thrones.”

Yet, nearly half of the high school seniors who participated in a new survey from Sallie Mae said they either didn’t have time to fill out the FAFSA or thought it was too much of an effort with little chance for reward.

That’s stunning, especially because so much scholarship money, student loans and other funds are available for the asking. How do you expect to win college scholarships, work-study funds, federal loans and other money if you don’t even try to play the game?

Filing the FAFSA is a must, and the next round begins Oct. 1.

The hour of filing time doesn’t include the time it takes to get your hands on the financial documents needed to complete the process.

That can consume a lot of time and energy if you have to go hunting through filing cabinets, especially at the eleventh hour.

For 14 years, Sallie Mae and its Ipsos research partner have surveyed college students and parents of undergraduates to gauge their attitudes about the cost of college and how they are trying to pay the bills.

The fact that many students and parents don’t file the FAFSA is nothing new, but the Department of Education doesn’t appear to be making much headway, even though the process has been simplified.

The new “How America Pays for College” survey of 985 parents of undergraduates and 1,000 students ages 18 to 24 was conducted in April and released in mid-July.

While about 56% of survey respondents said they relied on scholarships from the school their child attended, about 44% said they apply for scholarships.

Asked why, 29% of parents said they didn’t think their child was eligible for scholarships, and 25% said they didn’t know of any scholarships.

For students, 44% said they didn’t file the FAFSA because they didn’t think they would be awarded money, 28% said they didn’t have time, and 20% felt it was too much of an effort.

While Sallie Mae noted the perception that a family wouldn’t qualify for aid — and needn’t bother with filing the FAFSA — was more prevalent among high-income families, about one in three low-income and middle-income families shared this attitude.

In fact, according to Sallie Mae, this appears to be “largely a perception, not a fact derived from firsthand experience. Only 11% of non-submitters say they didn’t apply this upcoming school year because they completed a FAFSA in a previous year and did not receive any aid.”

For the full Sallie Mae survey, go to https://ww2.salliemae. com/about/leading-research/ how-america-pays-for-college/.