Applying for financial aid is about to become a lot less stressful. Changes are coming in Biola’s financial aid system that should make the process more efficient, less intimidating and more user-friendly, according to Geoff Marsh, senior director of financial aid.

In the  2014-2015 year, Marsh said that Biola is implementing a change in their financial aid process in an attempt to eliminate extra forms and make the application process less complicated.

“We’ve heard from students and parents that our financial aid process seems to be more cumbersome than at other schools, so we’re trying to address that and to be able to provide a quicker response,” Marsh said.

W2 FORMS NO LONGER REQUIRED

In order to do so, Biola is no longer requiring W2 forms unless there is a particular need for them, thereby eliminating an extra step in their verification process. In the past, when students have filled out the Free Application for Student Aid, Biola has verified each form beyond what the government requires in an attempt to dole out financial aid as equally as possible, according to Crawford.

This process will no longer be put into practice. Biola is now only going to verify the FAFSA applications that the government flags, instead of checking every application that had a blank and notifying the student in question, Marsh said.

“We had heard from families and students that we demand a lot more paperwork than other schools,” Crawford said.

STUDENTS NO LONGER NEED TO RENEW SCHOLARSHIPS 

An additional change in the financial aid process is already in effect. Starting this year, students who have been enrolled at Biola but are unable to enroll for a subsequent semester can continue to receive their financial aid when they enroll in the future. Instead of having students appeal to the financial aid office to renew their scholarships, administration is working on changing the system so their scholarships will automatically be added back on to their account.

These changes have garnered a reasonably positive response around campus. Financial aid is a big part of why many students are able to attend Biola, with 88 percent of students receiving some sort of financial aid, according to Crawford.

“As far as reducing paperwork is concerned, that seems to always be a good thing. Paperwork overall seems to waste a lot of folks’ time, and it’s really tedious, so the fact that the office wants to make things easier on folks … I appreciate that a lot,” said freshman English major Daniel Chrosniak.

Kristin Kavocic, sophomore human biology major, agrees that these changes seem like a good thing, but wonders how they’re going to get rid of some of the forms.

“In some ways, they seem necessary,” Kavocic said.

However, Kavocic greatly appreciates the fact that students who have not been enrolled for a semester can now still receive their financial aid.

“I have a couple friends that had to leave for a semester and came back, and it was really hard for them because they couldn’t get their scholarships back,” she said.

Josiah Tupaj, a freshman English major, also agreed that he thought that these new changes seemed to be a step in the right direction. However, he had some reservations about the integration of these new policies.

“The transition process might be difficult,” Tupaj said. “We’re probably all going to have to be patient.”

Crawford hopes that through these changes, students will feel more empowered and less intimidated by the process of applying for financial aid. Both Marsh and Crawford stressed, however, the need for action on the students’ part. Crawford said early action is more important than ever, especially in light of the recent changes.

“People who are proactive might be surprised at the possibilities that will be opened to them,” Crawford said.