College Tuition & COVID

One of the more pernicious aspects of the pandemic has been the widespread erosion of financial security. Regardless of our socioeconomic status, many of us have watched our peace of mind evaporate in recent months.

This is especially true—and especially urgent—for the families of college-bound high school seniors, who are now in the middle of application season and who are now discovering the degree to which the financial aid process has been impacted by COVID-19.

One of the more troublesome snags in the process is that FAFSA—the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which opened October 1st—requires financial information from 2019. Whatever their income in 2019, many are now facing unemployment, or underemployment, or at least grave levels of uncertainty. Simply put, pre-pandemic financial information is not reflective of the precarious situation in which many families currently find themselves, nor does it paint an accurate picture of what they will be able to afford to pay for college.