Nearly 450 high school seniors across Arizona had the opportunity to submit their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) early this year.
The Arizona Board of Regents was selected by the U.S. Department of Education to beta test this year's form before it becomes available to the general public in December.
Last year, the application was plagued by delays and technical glitches, which led to fewer students filling it out.
Julie Sainz is ABOR’s director of FAFSA and college access initiatives. She said as Arizona has consistently ranked close to last in the nation for the number of students who complete the form, she’s hoping this beta test will help improve those numbers.
“Luckily all the students that participated in this beta, they are completing the actual FAFSA application, so as soon as they submit it, they’re not going to have to resubmit come Dec. 1," Sainz said. "So that allowed Arizona to get a head start a little bit on FAFSA completions.”
She said the students who submitted the form didn't run into any major issues that kept them from completing it, but there are still some minor issues the Department of Education is aware of and working to fix.
"One of them is that some parents who may have a foreign address may not be able to input that foreign address, they would have to use an address here in the states," Sainz said. "There are also a number of other small technical issues that have work-arounds."
