© 2024 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WECS · WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM · WVOF
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ

Donate

Play Live Radio

Next Up:

0:00

0:00

0:00 0:00

Available On Air Stations

Where We Live

The FAFSA, student loans and untangling the state of financial aid

By Tess Terrible,

Catherine Shen

Published March 1, 2024 at 7:24 AM EST

Jesus Noyola, a sophomore attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, poses for a portrait outside the Folsom Library, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024, in Troy, N.Y. — Jesus Noyola, a sophomore attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, poses for a portrait outside the Folsom Library, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024, in Troy, N.Y. A later-than-expected rollout of a revised Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FASFA, that schools use to compute financial aid, is resulting in students and their parents putting off college decisions. Noyola said he hasn’t been able to submit his FAFSA because of an error in the parent portion of the application. “It’s disappointing and so stressful since all these issues are taking forever to be resolved,” said Noyola, who receives grants and work-study to fund his education.

Applying for financial aid is no easy task. Whether you’re the parent or the incoming student. And a new FAFSA form hasn’t made things any easier.

The online FAFSA form - or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid was recently updated. But it’s come with a lot of glitches causing headaches for students and parents alike.

Today on Where We Live, we talk about what’s happening with this form and how universities are responding.

We’ll also talk about how some universities here in Connecticut are working to eliminate student loans from their financial aid packages.

GUESTS:

Danielle Douglas-Gabriel: Reporter for the Washington Post
Eric Hoover: Senior Writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education
Jen Duncan: Director of Financial Aid at Wesleyan University

Where We Live is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.

Where We Live

Tess Terrible

Tess is a senior producer for Connecticut Public news-talk show Where We Live. She enjoys hiking Connecticut's many trails and little peaks, knitting, gardening and writing in her seven journals.

See stories by Tess Terrible

Catherine Shen

Catherine is the Host of Connecticut Public’s morning talk show and podcast, Where We Live. Catherine and the WWL team focus on going beyond the headlines to bring in meaningful conversations that put Connecticut in context.

See stories by Catherine Shen