With the Better FAFSA still in limbo, here's what to do as college decisions loom

The new FAFSA forms introduce the term "contributor," which refers to anyone — your spouse, your biological or adoptive parents, a parent's spouse — whom the app asks to provide information, including consent and approval to have federal tax information transferred directly to the FAFSA application.

"It's a lot of new information. It can be a little bit confusing," said Elizabeth Brooks, director of financial aid for St. Cloud State University.

Engebretson said being able to automatically transfer tax information should be a benefit to most applicants, as that is "where families usually got stuck." To import IRS information previously, applicants had to match the exact address used on their tax returns. Even the slightest variation such as using Street vs. St. could prevent students from completing the process.

Some students faced other challenges.

Applicants who were unable to provide Social Security numbers for parents — because they lived abroad and weren't U.S. citizens or were undocumented, for example — were initially not able to complete FAFSA forms. At the beginning of March, the Department of Education released instructions for creating a Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID for anyone without a Social Security number.

"I think we have a much larger population of students whose parents don't necessarily have Social Security numbers," Brooks said.

Families should closely study financial changes to the FAFSA formula used to calculate a student's financial aid eligibility. In some cases, it could mean families will be facing a larger bill.

FAFSA previously offered a discount for families with multiple students in college, but that is no longer the case. Cozy Wittman — who leads education and partnerships for St. Paul-based College Inside Track — said families might want to reach out directly to schools to see if the institutions are able to offer discounts in those cases.

"At the price of college today, families can use all the help that they can get," said Wittman, whose organization works with families trying to select a school.

The application will no longer have exemptions for owners of family farms and small-business owners by July 1. The assets from those businesses formerly was a factor in the calculation of student aid, and there is concern this could result in the loss of financial aid eligibility for some students.

A proposal to restore those exemptions is under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"We're going to have fewer and fewer families qualifying for [financial] need," Wittman said. "People are very anxious."

If you have already filled out your application but still haven't heard a response, just try to be patient and communicate with your school and the Department of Education regularly so everyone knows you're on top of it. If you haven't managed to finish the application, there's still time.

"Don't get discouraged. Now is the time to get that FAFSA in if they haven't already done it," said Wendy Robinson, assistant commissioner of the OHE. "It does take less time to fill out."

Robinson said many of the problems plaguing FAFSA this year are specific to rolling out the new program and won't persist beyond this season.

"I think this year is truly an anomaly," Robinson said.