Florence-Carlton High School senior Kenzy Pickering says she’s headed to college at Montana State University in Bozeman after graduation. She eventually wants to become a veterinarian, like her aunt.
“And I’ve always loved going into her clinic, and just being around the animals all the time has been so fun to me my entire life,” Pickering said.
To get to college, like so many other students, she says she filled out the free application for federal student aid, better known as the FAFSA. The good news?
“It was a relatively easy process,” Pickering said. “I’m pretty sure I sat down one night and got it done in, like, 30 minutes to an hour.”
The National College Attainment Network found the number of Montana high school seniors who’ve completed the FAFSA is up 8% from this time last year. That’s a positive sign after the Department of Education botched the rollout of a new version of the application in 2024.
The department had billed the streamlined FAFSA as easier to complete, but technical errors bogged down students and universities alike as they tried to sort through glitches and delays.
“We’re really, really excited by how smoothly it’s going this year compared to last,” says Montana Tech admissions director Leslie Dickerson.
Dickerson says the school was working into the first few weeks of September last year sorting out financial aid for students — a process that normally happens months ahead of time. This year, they’re much more on track.
The Department of Education says the number of student financial aid applications filled out so far this year is up 50% nationwide from this time last year.
