Not this year.

A U.S. Department of Education known as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) means college advisors nationally will have to wait two months until December, or even after Christmas break, to start helping the 20 million students that typically apply.

It鈥檚 a delay that wipes out two months in which about half of applicants fill out the forms nationally. Deadlines have been extended, but the time until colleges announce financial aid packages and students must make decisions has been slashed. And it raises fears students needing extra attention 鈥� particularly low income students and families who are unaware how the financial aid process works 鈥� will be left behind.

Advisors like Zwyghuizen are preparing and bracing for a scramble in the new year to make sure they have multiple chances to nudge students to apply and walk families that need extra help through the process. Many students don鈥檛 believe they can afford college and need repeated prodding to apply and find out.

鈥淭here鈥檚 fear of the unknown going into this later and with less preparation than we did before,鈥� said Zwyghuizen, who works for the Grand Rapids Promise, which helps pay tuition for students in a city where a third of children live in poverty. 鈥淭here’s already so many barriers people have with FAFSA.鈥�

Bill DeBaun, a director of the National College Attainment Network, said he has 鈥渞eal concerns鈥� college access will drop, particularly for low-income students and those who would be first in their families to go to college.

鈥淭he outreach to these students, the helping them understand that college is for them is what takes time and energy on top of actually completing the FAFSA,鈥� he said.

FAFSA determines eligibility for federal Pell grants for college expenses of up to $7,400 this school year. It is also the starting point for almost every need-based financial aid system in the country.

But with more than 100 questions asking for detailed financial information from families, it鈥檚 complicated and can scare some families off, particularly those who have not used them before.

鈥淚t’s the graveyard for so many college students,鈥� said Tom Harnisch, vice president of government relations for the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association.

The 鈥渃umbersome鈥� process and 鈥渙utdated technology鈥� on the current form means 鈥渇ar too many are locked out of aid,鈥� Richard Cordray, chief executive officer of the U.S. Office of Federal Student Aid

The new forms, ordered by the FAFSA Simplification Act that Congress passed in 2020, will cut the number of questions more than in half. And applying will be even easier online if parents let the application import their tax filings.

The new forms will be accompanied by new aid formula that . Though more students may be eligible for aid and expected family contributions could fall for many, the formula no longer accounts for siblings also going to college and there is debate over how the value of family land or small business assets are weighed.

The department has said for months the new forms will be available in December, but hasn鈥檛 clarified if that will be early or late December, when holidays will slow completion.

That delay is of immediate concern to a dozen national associations of colleges and counselors who wrote U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona earlier this month urging him to set a release date as soon as he can, so they can plan their completion campaigns.

鈥淏ecause the timeline for completing the FAFSA will be much shorter than it has been in recent years, every day counts when it comes to supporting students and families through the new process,鈥� the letter said.

Harnisch, whose organization is one of the dozen, said he hopes advisors can start working with families before Christmas.

鈥淲e鈥檝e told them that December 1 and December 31 are quite different for us,鈥� Harnisch said.

In cities like Grand Rapids, Zwyghuizend said, counselors are planning to jam the one-on-one meetings with students they normally spread out over the fall into just January.

鈥淚t’s going to be a lot of work in the second semester to try and get people ready at the last-minute,鈥� she said.

Others are focusing this month on a key initial step to completing the new forms 鈥� creating log-ons and IDs in the online system 鈥� that they can do now and avoid having to start from scratch in January.

In Cleveland, advisors have set four workshops just to create IDs between October and December. They are also planning intense family outreach in January.

鈥淲e believe that our 鈥榩rework鈥� now will help keep parents and students engaged around FAFSA and financial aid,鈥� said Alison Bibb-Carson, spokesperson for CollegeNow, the nonprofit that handles college advising for the city鈥檚 schools. 鈥淲e hope that this work and our extended outreach will keep numbers the same or maybe increase the number of FAFSA completion.鈥�

Cyekeia Lee, executive director of the Detroit College Access Network, is also banking on advance work and setting FAFSA IDs now will help students in that high-poverty city connect to aid they need.

鈥淪o as long as you take that first initial step to get them the most prepared that we can, we will work with that,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淎s long as families start to work on the FSA ID I think you’ll still get enough traction once it comes out.鈥�

蜜桃影视鈥檚 Linda Jacobson contributed to this story.

This article has been produced in partnership between 蜜桃影视 and .

Eleventh grader Genesis Villafane has two words to describe her Michigan high school: 鈥渉armonious pandemonium.鈥�

At the in the Grand Rapids Public Schools district, Genesis and her peers experience a constant juxtaposition of creativity and commotion because of their school鈥檚 non-traditional approach of embedding students 鈥� literally 鈥� in the community, and injecting the community into learning. 

鈥淚n one corner, you had Mr. [Nate] Langel doing a science lesson, and across the room, the choir group was practicing next to seniors working on their community project,鈥� she explained. 鈥淓very day it鈥檚 like this.鈥�

Community projects are a defining feature of how students learn at GRPMS, an approach facilitated by the school鈥檚 physical space. The high school opened downtown in 2018 in the museum鈥檚 current archives building, and former location, after being selected as an . Students have access to 250,000 archives they can use as primary sources.

As just one example of the school鈥檚 community-based lessons, Genesis鈥檚 English class partnered with a local nonprofit restorative arts group, , on the south side of the city. 

鈥淭hey helped us write pieces of art related to issues that matter to us and our community,鈥� she said, noting how this collaboration helped her learn about issues like gentrification and redlining. Genesis said the project also made her feel more connected to revitalization efforts across Grand Rapids 鈥� efforts similar to those that helped bring her innovative high school to life.

Many schools may visit a local institution or use projects for part of the year in a few classes. But GRPMS uses this dual approach in all of its classes, year-round, because of its commitment to , which include . Research shows that when educators incorporate real-world, experiences into their practice, students develop and apply deep content knowledge and complex skills.

Read more about how to design engaging projects at your school in The XQ Xtra 鈥� a newsletter for educators that comes out twice a month. .

The graduation rate for the Michigan high school鈥檚 first cohort in 2022 was above 86%, five percentage points higher than that of the surrounding district and state. More than two-thirds of GRPMS class of 2022 graduates (67%) met the SAT鈥檚 college-ready benchmark for evidence-based reading and writing in 2021, far outpacing both the state and district rates (57% percent and 40%, respectively). 

The small district high school of about 300 students is still new. But with even before the pandemic, GRMPS is already yielding lessons for other schools trying to bring a that鈥檚 also preparing them better for collaboration and critical thinking skills students need today in college and careers. 

Collaborate with a District

The Museum High School, as it鈥檚 known by the community, was developed through an ongoing, multiyear collaboration between the Grand Rapids public school district, the Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Valley State University, Kendall College of Art and Design and the City of Grand Rapids. A middle school opened in 2015 in the Grand Rapids Public Museum鈥檚 current location and its founders wanted to build on its success by developing a high school.

鈥淔or our model, we wanted to use the whole city as our classroom,鈥� said Christopher Hanks, founding and current principal for both the middle and high school. Hanks saw the high school as a model for teaching and learning centered on both place-based and project-based learning. 

But getting different players in a school district to come together requires relationship building. A former professor of education at Grand Valley State, Hanks iterated on the school鈥檚 design with colleagues from higher education, the museum and the district. Many of the founders who helped design the school serve on its advisory board and remain committed to its mission and culture. The school also offers dual enrollment at local colleges, and more than half of its 2022 graduates earned college credits, higher than the national average and something it holds in common with other XQ high schools.

Take Learning Outside the Classroom

The logistics of even one field trip 鈥� transportation, staffing and emergency planning 鈥� can burden many schools and districts. To avoid these obstacles altogether, Hanks worked with the Grand Rapids district to make field trips part of the high school鈥檚 design.

鈥淲e landed on a two-mile contingency radius,鈥� he said. That agreement ensured the school had immediate access to dozens of potential partners students could connect with in downtown Grand Rapids, including the YMCA and the library, so leaving the campus isn鈥檛 a hassle.

Given that the high school is located in the museum鈥檚 former building, it lacks hallways and traditional classrooms. But Hanks and the teachers embraced another XQ design principle 鈥� . A wide-open hall on the ground floor, the Commons, is a flexible space where student learning is curated and put on display.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of convergence that happens in this space,鈥� Hanks explained. 鈥淪tudents and teachers will gather here to learn, connect on projects, as well as bring in the community for student-focused events.鈥� 

The school installed a design lab and maker space next to the Commons, where students use equipment like 3D printers and laser cutters for projects. On the upper level, students split across two large flex spaces. Teachers will often co-teach units together, integrating standards from three core classes 鈥� English, social studies and science.

Empower Teachers and Provide Support 

With the school鈥檚 location and its extensive network of community partners, teachers at GRPMS say they feel empowered to create innovative and authentic learning experiences that are meaningful to students.

Project-based learning drives core classes. With this innovative curriculum, social studies teacher Lindsay Lane said she has the ability to teach history in a more expansive way. 

鈥淲e blend the humanities with the sciences, but we also show students how events like the Industrial Revolution occurred around the world,鈥� she explained. 鈥淗ow the science and technology impacted the U.S., and how that shaped the story of Grand Rapids.鈥�

Science teacher Langel described how in one project he designed, teachers connected numerous standards between science and history by having students partner with a local organization that addresses homelessness. 

鈥淚t was about what goes together,鈥� he said. 鈥淪tudents learning how to make soap for the unhoused were able to connect biochemistry standards with the concepts of human rights.鈥�

The school also discovered it needed more planning time as it developed competency-based education, a system that relies on more than just letter grades to show what students are learning. CBE is often viewed as simply an assessment system instead of a deeper shift in learning. Hanks said the school had to completely 鈥渂low-up the grading system,鈥� rethinking what pacing, evaluation and student learning demonstrations look like. Teachers now get professional development over the summer to support and enhance consistency.

Troubleshoot with Leadership Support

While these projects in the core classes have been successful, teachers struggled to fit math into their multi-disciplinary design. That difficulty was reflected in the school鈥檚 math scores, which weren鈥檛 nearly as strong as they were in other subjects.

Ben Garlets, a former GRPMS math teacher, said many high schools across the country experience a similar challenge when trying to include math in project-based learning. He said GRPMS faced two specific challenges: scheduling the math that needs to be taught over the course of a year into projects, and keeping students at the same grade level together when they鈥檙e at different levels of mathematical proficiency. 

Garlets devised a solution: making math more like the other nontraditional classes, not less. 

鈥淚t didn鈥檛 make sense to do traditional mathematics if we were rethinking everything else,鈥� he explained. That meant letting students see math’s relevance without forcing it into projects or tying it to other core subjects.

Garlets determined that an would be a strong fit. He presented it to Hanks as a departure from the traditional 鈥�,鈥� in which the different mathematical concepts are isolated from one another, and .

Hanks helped him figure out how to get this curriculum approved by district leaders and connected him to the principal of the museum鈥檚 middle school, who had experience with the approach. When it comes to innovation, Hanks said 鈥渘o鈥� is never the first answer. Instead, he said he works with the district to understand what its policies and limitations are so they can find a middle ground.

Garlets, who is now working for the Grand Rapids district, said that type of leadership style is essential for an innovative school, which needs a , another XQ design principle, to make lasting and meaningful changes. 

鈥淲e were really empowered by Hanks to rethink what we鈥檙e doing in our classrooms.鈥�

Keep Evolving

Five years into its journey, the high school is still learning what works best. As Hanks explained, a school鈥檚 vision must be earned and re-earned, learned and re-learned every year. GRPMS keeps that same lesson in mind when it comes to the greater community.

 鈥淲e鈥檝e learned how to test the institutional relationships with our partners as we鈥檝e evolved to ensure people remain committed,鈥� Hanks said.

Consistency helps, too. Science teacher Langel is among many staff who have been with GRPMS from the start. 

鈥淛ust as a museum becomes a place for the community to learn about itself, the school really brings it out for students, and they connect with that,鈥� he said.

According to the Grand Rapids school district鈥檚 strategic plan, theme schools like GRPMS are highly valued by residents because they offer choice, innovative curricula and greater access to community partnerships. But GRPMS stands out because its enrollment is more diverse and representative of the city overall. The district sees that as a source of inspiration. GRPMS and its partners expect more participants in this year鈥檚 summer institute for educators who want to learn from and replicate the school鈥檚 successful approaches.

Do you want to learn more about how to rethink high school? The XQ Xtra is a newsletter for educators that comes out twice a month. .