Simplification of FAFSA a Long Awaited and Welcome Change
Today’s announcement by the Obama administration to simplify the FAFSA application (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is a most welcome admission that the form, with its 150+ questions, has become so complex and cumbersome that the very families the process should be helping has, instead, chased them away. Today’s announcement of minor changes for the coming year—eliminating as many as 20 duplicative questions—will help, but the real benefits will come in another year or two.
The goal is to feed financial information directly from a family’s tax return into the FAFSA form. This obvious move will improve accuracy and make the process far easier for families. In particular, this will greatly assist lower income families (and often those of first-generation college students) who have struggled with areas of the form dealing with net worth, investment portfolios, and the like.
The overall strategy is that this simplified process will bring increased numbers of students into the college search process by demonstrating that college is achievable and affordable. For consultants, this begins one more step in gaining greater expertise in understanding the broad range of financial aid possibilities, including need-based financial aid, merit aid, loans, work-study and 529 plans, among others. Anything that simplifies this process for families is a positive change for all.
Posted by Mark Sklarow, IECA Executive Director
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