Feb 04, 2017 08:05 AM EST By Amanda Foster, UniversityHerald Reporter

Financial aid letters are out early for some high school seniors and this new financial time line provides a bigger window of opportunity when it comes to financial concerns. Initially, when faced with making a college decision, May 1 is the date to remember. But because of a new time table from the Department of Education, thousands of students across the country would have already been enrolled to the colleges and universities they wish to get admitted to.

The calendar moves up the start date for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to Oct. 1 from Jan. 1. While this can broaden the window of financial aid opportunity, there are pros and cons to it.

Pros: Advantage to change in financial aid letters schedule

The wider time line provides a wider window when it comes to financial options. Families can appeal some more if the financial aid they receive is not satisfactory.

Schools such as the Indiana Wesleyan University benefits from the time line change. They can counter competitors who give out financial aid. This also gives high school seniors more time to visit and re-visit colleges and universities.

This also gives financial services a better assessment of the students' eligibility, as reported by Time.

Cons: Disadvantages in the change of time table

 For one thing, making an informed decision about which college or university to attend to is harder for admitted students because not all of them have financial aid available, as reported by Metro. There is too much time when it comes to waiting because traditionally, colleges distribute financial aid letters to admitted students around March.

Colleges like Kalamazoo in Michigan or the University of Denver moved up their financial aid letter schedules. Majority of students will still not receive acceptances until March or later. Schools are also having difficulty in juggling deadlines to accommodate the needs of the first accepted students.

There is also the moving up of scholarship schedules. This forces all families to be watchful regarding the deadlines.

Want to learn more about financial aid? Check the video below:

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