Complaint Review: Student Financial Aid Services - Davis California

My daughter also started her FAFSA process on FAFSA.com instead of FAFSA.gov.  While I accept that it is not a scam in the purest sense, I feel that it is misleading, and people should be aware of this company before they spend their hours on the wrong site. 

FAFSA is a free application.  Many people look for it by typing FAFSA into their search engine, and because FAFSA.com pays the search engine companies, their link tends to be at the top of the search results page.  The tagline under the link says "Complete Your FAFSA Now for Federal Student Aid. By Phone or Online."  It does not mention that this is a private company. AFter clicking on the link, the inattentive user will miss the statement at the top of the main page stating that the site is not affiliated with the Dept of Education.  This statement is repeated in the small print on the botton of the application pages.

Two students I know who stumbled onto FAFSA.com spent more than two hours each on the web site, filling out the application.  They put in their own social security numbers, as well as their parents', and all of their parents' personal finance information.  It was a frustrating process for students and parents alike, and when these students finally got to the end of the application, they were each met with the statement that something was "wrong" and that they could only find out what was wrong if they paid the fee. 

Each student, upon realizing what had happened, then went to the FAFSA.ed.gov web site to file their applications.  The process there was simpler and quicker, and less frustrating. 

It seems to me that the .com site deliberately creates frustration so that when something is "wrong" at the end of the application, families will give in and pay anything just to turn the process over to someone else.  After all, they've already put in two hours.  Why would they want to do all that over again? I'm not even sure that the "something wrong" at the end is legitimate.  Was the application complete? Did they deliberately neglect to include a question so that we would have to get assistance? I just don't know.

Comparisons to the Free Tax Prep websites are invalid, in my opinion.  When I do my taxes at hrblock.com, they don't tell me something is wrong and then demand payment to fix it.  They tell me what information I am missing so that I can complete my 1040 without a hitch... for free. 

FAFSA is indeed a free application for federal student aid, however if lengthy applications are burdensome or inconvenient for an applicant, there are services available from private comapanies / individuals to assist in the process. This is no different than someone using a tax preparer to assist in filing what is an otherwise free tax return, and certainly is not a "masterful rip-off". It's just smart marketing. In fact, it's the sort of marketing taught by the very schools that people are taking out loans to attend. Very circular.