Colleges were impacted this past year by delays to the new FAFSA rollout.

Due to technical glitches, the form that was typically available in October, wasn’t accessible until December 30 of that year.

Many families weren’t able to get their financial aid notifications until March as a result. That impacted the enrollment process for them and for colleges.

Although FAFSA says its newest form for the next academic year will be available on or before this December, Siena’s admissions team wanted to get ahead of the curve.

Siena has developed its own online financial aid application. They’re calling it the SAFSA. It went live November 1, giving families about a month’s jump on getting an estimate about how much aid they could receive.

This gives them more time to accurately budget for what college expenses will be for them at Siena. However, they will eventually need to complete the actual FAFSA to be eligible.