Our Chicago: FAFSA Changes & Job Scams

CHICAGO (WLS) — On Sunday morning, we’re talking about hurdles young people are facing as they move forward in their lives.

For high school students planning to go to college, it’s changes made to the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. They were mandated by Congress and were intended to make it simpler for students and their families.

The revamped form has fewer than 50 questions, down from more than 100. Students need to complete this form to access federal student aid to help pay for college, career or trade schools.

But with the rollout came delays. The new FAFSA was released three months later than usual. As a result, some students are still unsure about the financial aid package they’ll receive, complicating the decision of just which school to attend.

And the traditional May first deadline for students to make those decisions is quickly approaching.

Debbie Turrisi is a school counselor at Lockport Township High School. She has been meeting with students regularly.

“Even if their FAFSAs have been processed, there’s an error message on many of them and so as a result they don’t have those final numbers. And so some students are in a position to make that decision regardless of what the financial aid is. But many students are not able to make that decision. How can you decide where you’re going to go if you don’t know how much it’s going to cost?” Turrisi said.

She says there are a thousand seniors at Lockport Township High School.

“I do have many students myself that are planning to go to JJC instead, as as backup. Because everyone gets into JJC, Joliet Junior College. And you pretty much know what you’re going to have to pay when you go there. So, some students are making that alternate plan to go to go to the community college,” Turrisi said.

So what advice does Turrisi and her fellow counselors have for students?

“Basically, we’re telling our students, ‘Stick with this, persist. It’s like learning how to ride a bike.’ It’s new, and so as a result of that, you’re going to fall down, you’re going to get back up again,” Turrisi said.

Our Chicago: Part 2

This time of year, students about to graduate from college are searching for jobs and getting ready to launch their careers. But they need to be aware of scams. The Federal Trade Commission reports that college students are being approached by people who claim they’re recruiters for top companies. But that “recruiter” may actually be an identity thief.

Francisco Tobon is a career expert with LinkedIn. His advice?

“Trust your instinct. If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is,” Tobon said.

He says if job-seekers see something or get a job offer, they should take a moment to pause and slow down. So what do these scams look like?

“Asking for payment up front, first of all. Asking for payment of any kind, any information before actually going through the interview process. If you get an invitation or a job offer after just one interview, that’s very un-probable. Normally the hiring process takes several rounds of interviews with the recruiter, with the hiring manager and then normally there’s a panel interview at the end. So be very wary of those examples. Other red flags that people can be, keep an eye out for, is bad grammar. So if you see bad grammar in an application or if you’re talking to the recruiter or texting with them and you see that their language is very poor that’s also a very important red flag to be mindful of. And then finally, if they ask you to move the conversation off of LinkedIn to another platform such as an WhatsApp, such as a Telegram these are also very clear indicators that something is wrong, something is fishy,” Tobon said.