We have good news for students and families: There’s still time to get money for college this fall by completing a financial aid application. Plus, there’s free help to get it done quickly.
Members of the Class of 2024 were in eighth grade when the pandemic hit. While schools and families did their best to provide structure and support, this class had a significant reduction in access to the resources and relationships that help young people plan for education after high school.
The Class of 2024 persisted through challenges only to have the U.S. Department of Education construct a nearly insurmountable roadblock for many students just near the finish line: the botched launch of the new 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as FAFSA.
The FAFSA determines eligibility for federal, state and substantial institutional financial aid, including grants, scholarships, loans and work-study programs. The so-called “better FAFSA” was supposed to make the financial aid process easier but actually made it harder. Many students who might have otherwise been interested in education after high school had difficulty completing the form. Some simply gave up.
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Some estimates suggest that 1 million fewer low-income students will receive Pell Grants this year — despite newly expanded Pell eligibility — simply because technical problems with the application prevented them from completing it.
Since spring, though, support from high schools, education agencies and others has helped Illinois recover some of the lost ground in FAFSA completions. Many of the problems with the FAFSA have been fixed, and there is free statewide help from the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for students and families to complete the FAFSA quickly and easily.
Completing the FAFSA (or, for eligible undocumented students in Illinois, the Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid) doesn’t obligate a student to accept a loan, grant or scholarship. It provides critical information about the kind and amount of financial assistance available to students so they can make informed decisions about education after high school.
With all the challenges this high school graduating class has been through, let’s support their dreams and goals by making sure they have the information they need to help ensure a future full of possibility. Let’s encourage them to complete an application at FAFSA.gov.
Eric Zarnikow, executive director, ISAC, and Tony Sanders, Ed.D., state superintendent of education, Illinois State Board of Education
Use technology in mental health care
The past few years have brought a welcomed shift in the conversation around mental health care. Unfortunately, for vulnerable populations and communities of color, particularly those on Chicago’s South and West sides, the barriers to comprehensive mental health care — cost, stigma, access — remain firmly in place.
I believe the solution lies in digital therapeutics, the delivery of medical interventions directly to patients through proven, clinically tested software. This next wave of medicine follows innovations like oral medication, IV antibiotics and cell therapy by leveraging technology to support a patient’s bespoke health care needs and is capable of addressing conditions like depression, substance abuse and more through software-based therapies.
The promise of digital therapeutics to revolutionize health care is unmistakable. Digital therapeutics can unlock access to mental health resources for rural and disinvested communities, make care more affordable, and destigmatize care in significant ways. Working as a nurse in behavioral health for many years, I saw the potential of these therapies firsthand, and I’ve remained passionate about doing my part to help make them more accessible.
But achieving this reality requires smart policy.
First, policymakers must require insurance providers to reimburse clinically proven digital therapies. Just as Gov. Pritzker codified coverage for telehealth services, so, too, should Illinois lawmakers move forward on policy requiring coverage for digital therapeutics. When payers quickly and effectively process reimbursement, they help foster an incentive structure that promotes future investment, which is key to continued innovation and the bedrock of an equitable healthcare system.
Another concern relates to policy proposals circulating in Congress that would handcuff the nation’s leading technology companies and most prolific innovators. As currently written, these regulatory proposals would disincentivize future innovation and eliminate important safeguards that health care technology companies use to keep their platforms secure. Our policymakers in Congress should advance legislation that makes it easier for American tech leaders to innovate, not harder.
Health care providers have a responsibility to usher in the future. The future is digital therapeutics. For the sake of our most vulnerable patients, I hope our elected officials commit to protecting and advancing the practice of digital therapeutics.
Nicole Maes, registered nurse, West Loop
L names used to have meaning
L trains in Chicago used to have names that meant something. You heard the name, you knew immediately what train and where it went. We had the Howard L, the Skokie Swift, the Evanston Express, the Ravenswood line, the Logan Square, the Lake Street, Dan Ryan, Englewood and Douglas.
They switched to color names, and I’ll bet 90% of the public couldn’t name them all correctly.
The CTA should admit it made a mistake and change the names to actually inform the public.
Larry Craig, Wilmette