Michigan raffling pizza for FAFSA submissions

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The U.S. Department of Education is delaying when students can start submitting FAFSA applications for the fall 2025 semester.

Grand Rapids Community College and state leaders are encouraging students to fill out their application if they are already eligible or prepare to submit their form for next year.

“The FAFSA is the first step to being able to access federal financial aid and state financial aid,” said Michelle Richard, deputy director for higher education at Michigan Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential.

The federal government announced last week it will not be able to accept new applications for the fall of 2025 until Dec. 1 of this year instead of the usual Oct. 1 start. A small portion will be able to apply in a pilot program to test the system.

This is the second year of the delay, which has meant colleges and universities have had less time to process paperwork.

“We know that lots of families are able to complete the FAFSA in 30 minutes or less with information that they can easily pull together at their kitchen table and so we know that this year has been a little bumpy but we’re certainly expecting a better year ahead,” Richard said.

The federal government is still working through bugs after making major changes to the forms last year.

“Once a student submits their financial aid application it creates something that’s called an ISIR (Institutional Student Information Record) and that is sent to the institutions. Those typically come in January. We did not start receiving those until March,” said GRCC President Charles Lepper.

If you are not yet able to submit the form, state education leaders say there are things families can do to prepare.

“We would really encourage you to get those college applications in this fall and then get ready to complete your FAFSA so that your financial aid paperwork can be processed as quickly as possible.” Richard said.

Michigan students are being incentivized to fill out the FAFSA through the state’s “ Reach for the Pie ” contest, which gives 100 students who complete the application Hungry Howie’s Pizza for a year.

A student representing the winners this year said it is a great perk and the form was not difficult to complete.

“It was pretty simple. I think it took maybe half an hour for us to do. There was a lot of basic information so all our personal information and it pulled all of our bank info for us so just a lot of signing different documents online putting in different birthdays,” said Jana Schroeder, a contest winner.

To learn more about how to complete a FAFSA application, visit the Federal Student Aid website .

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