Students and parents in Santa Barbara County had a unique opportunity on Thursday to beta test an updated federal student aid form.
After last year's botched rollout of Free Application for Federal Student Aid — which was plagued with numerous bugs and glitches — the Department of Education selected a handful of organizations nationwide to test the upcoming application ahead of its release.
The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara was one of the lucky few. One of six, to be exact.
"This is the first time the beta testing has been done to my knowledge and it's because of how difficult it was last year to go through the application process," said LynnRae Dunn, the development director for the foundation, of FAFSA. "And so we're really proud to be a part of this testing."
Over 100 students and parents gathered at the Santa Maria High School library to participate in the FAFSA testing workshop from 2 to 8 p.m.
Representatives from the Department of Education and Cal-SOAP attended, as well. Cal-SOAP is the California Student Opportunity and Access Program — a statewide program meant to increase college enrollment.
The beta testing will allow the Department of Education to identify and fix potential issues before releasing it to the general public.
FAFSA is a federal form that all students must complete to be considered for federal aid.
"We're hoping that we can be a part of the solution," Dunn said.
