The University of Oregon released its Free Application for Federal Student Aid on Oct. 1. FAFSA is a tool to help students apply for federal funding through the U.S. Department of Education. It determines a student’s eligibility for federal grants, loans and work-study opportunities. 

According to the Federal Student Aid, President Donald Trump directed the Secretary of Education to pause loan payments, stop collections and waive interest on Federal Student Aid education borrowing loans in response to COVID-19. This began in March and lasts until Dec. 31, 2020. 

“FSA acted swiftly to put nearly 25 million borrowers into administrative forbearance or stopped collections status,” Alberto Betancourt, the U.S. Department of Education spokesperson, said in an email. 

All borrowers with education department-held federal student loans are automatically eligible, he said. The suspension payment period is free and loans do not accumulate interest until Dec. 13. 

This doesn’t apply to all loans. Loans owned by commercial lenders, banks, FEEL Program loans and Federal Perkins loans are not included. For students with private loans, the FSA offers a lower payment option through an Income-Driven Repayment Plan.

Auto-debit payments are suspended at this time. If a student is charged, they can be refunded by their loan servicer, according to the FSA website. The payment suspension is optional. Students can still pay interest fees ahead of time if they want, but it’s not required.

UO entered into a program participation agreement with the Department of Education, which authorizes the university to participate in any Title IV Higher Education Act program, Jim Brooks, the associate vice president and director of financial aid, said in an email. 

The PPA is good for five years. Every five years, UO has to go through a recertification process. If approved, a new PPA is authorized.

“Our current PPA expires on June 30, 2024,” Brooks said. “It is signed by the University President and a representative of the ED.” 

UO’s FAFSA priority deadline is March 1, 2021. If students miss the priority deadline, they can miss out on grants and other opportunities like work-study they may qualify for because the funds are limited, Spencer Smith, a financial aid counselor and financial wellness coordinator, said. All students are encouraged to apply within this five-month window to consider them for the maximum amount of aid from UO, Smith said.

After March 1, 2021, UO’s financial aid office receives FAFSA data from the Department of Education. The data FAFSA reviewed includes the estimated family contribution and student earnings from 2019, along with current household information and assets. 

“Based on the awarding parameters given to us by the Department of Education, we see what students qualify for need-based aid such as the Pell Grant, Oregon Opportunity Grant and other federal and state grants.” 

During the 2019-2020 academic year, UO received over 48,000 FAFSA records, Brooks said. Those records include students who listed UO on FAFSA, but never enrolled and students with more than one FAFSA record which the university received. 

For the 2019-2020 school year, UO awarded over $181 million in federal student aid to around 11,000 students, Brooks said.

After submitting a FAFSA application, the university will disburse a financial aid offer after spring term grades release for continuing students. For new students, their financial aid offer is released late March and early April. The award package is applied to the following academic year. A financial aid package can include scholarships, loans, grants and work-study opportunities which are determined by a students’ financial need through FAFSA. 

Some students are offered subsidized loans or unsubsidized loans. All UO students who are eligible for financial aid are automatically applied into in-school deferment as long as they are enrolled half-time. 

This means students who have subsidized or unsubsidized loans are not required to make payments until they are out of school, Smith said. Graduate students must be enrolled in at least five credits and undergraduate students are required to enroll in six credits to be automatically considered. 

Subsidized loans do not incur interest while a student is enrolled, but unsubsidized loans do incur interest. Smith said the interest on unsubsidized loans do not have to be paid until after graduation. As of now, the Department of Education set the interest rate at 0% for all federal direct loans, including unsubsidized loans, until Dec. 31. This applies to everyone who has federal direct loans, including parents and graduate students. 

UO asks students who are attending or considering the university to fill in UO’s school code on their application. The code is 003223, according to the Financial Aid and Scholarship website. 

Ilka Sankari, a first-year student at UO, was quick to apply for this year’s FAFSA application. Sankari qualified for Pathway Oregon through FAFSA.

“FAFSA has been the foundation for allowing me to get my education covered because I get the Pathway scholarship and a couple others which cover my full tuition at UO,” she said. 

Sankari said she fills out her FAFSA each year to determine her Pell Grant eligibility, which is the criteria for the scholarships and financial aid award she gets from UO.

“FAFSA is the foundation of the rest of the funding I get to pay for college,” she said. 

Sankari said she feels lucky and privileged to know what to do when it comes to navigating her tuition costs because of the social circles she’s in. Her high school sent out emails about FAFSA and she spoke with people about the federal loan program before enrolling at UO. 

The UO Pathway Oregon Program does a good job of being “on top of things” by sending updates, scholarship opportunities and being supportive through their faculty advising system, she said. On the other hand, she said UO could be more transparent about financial aid information and deadlines. 

“I think UO could do a better job at this by sending out emails more regularly or even pasting stuff up around campus,” she said. 

Sankari said she believes everyone should take advantage of financial aid opportunities by filling out the FAFSA form to find out what they’re eligible for. “There’s absolutely no harm in applying even if you don’t get it,” she said. “The only harm would be closing yourself off from opportunities.”

Aside from the FAFSA application, Smith said the Financial Wellness Center is gearing up to deliver virtual workshops and individual advising sessions by Nov. 10. An email will be sent to all UO students about current workshops and advising. 

“Once more students are back on campus, our goal is to have space in the EMU,” Jennifer Bell, the associate director for advising, said. “As long as most classes are remote, we’ll continue to offer most of our programming remotely including our one-on-one peer coaching.”

Right now, the Financial Aid Department is working with students who are eligible for financial aid and other students who are receiving the CARES Act. 

“More so now than I’ve ever noticed, we’re hearing a lot from families and students who are experiencing a family reduction in income, with lots of parents being laid off or their salaries being reduced,” Bell said. 

“For students coming next fall, FAFSA takes 2019 tax year rate, so it doesn’t capture income loss from the pandemic,” Bell said. “We’re hearing a lot from families about what we can do to adjust the FAFSA to make it more representative for them.” 

The Financial Aid office is taking on more work by accounting what students’ current income is so they can adjust their FAFSA accordingly. Bell said it’s a process they’re thinking they’ll see more often, in terms of increased requests for special circumstance reviews. 

“We’ve kept busy,” Smith said. “We’re here to help and support people.”