The Obama administration recently announced that it is working to simplify the sometimes arduous process for students applying for federal financial aid.
Beginning in 2010, some students filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid will be able to have certain portions of the online application filled out with information provided by the Internal Revenue Service. The application is also used to determine whether students qualify for federal Pell Grants, Stafford loans, work-study programs and state aid such as Cal Grants.
The plan is part of President Obama’s goal to improve access to higher education.
“To do that, we need to make the college-going process easier and more convenient and to send a clear message to young people as well as adults that college is within their reach. Simplifying the financial aid process is an important step toward reaching that goal,” said Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, in a press statement.
The current application’s length, as many as 153 questions and the complexity of the questions asked “are all barriers for people applying for aid,” said Edie Irons, communications director at Institute for College Access and Success, a college-based think tank.
“The solution, using IRS data to auto-answer the most difficult questions is a really simple, common-sense way to streamline the process for families and we think that really will make it easier to apply,” she said.
By using skip-logic, which eliminates certain questions based on previously answered ones, the user navigation of applicants will be cut by more than half, according to a press statement from the U.S. Department of Education. This means that dependant students would be able to skip questions about personal assets.
The Department’s plan also includes reducing the number of screens that applicants have to go through when applying online as well as introducing new legislation which would reduce the overall number of questions asked on the FAFSA. The legislation would seek authority from Congress to remove questions in which the information is not available from the IRS, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Such awards typically have little impact on the amount of aid awarded and can be difficult to complete, the statement further read.
However, the immediate changes would only affect students applying for aid for the spring semester of 2010, a process usually reserved for community college students and not four-year students which usually apply in the spring for the fall term.
While it is preferred that students use their tax information for the current year when applying, the application allows them to submit data based on the previous year. However, that earlier data would not be applicable online, Irons said. She added that she hopes that in the future, applicants will be able to use the earlier data.
Having certain fields pre-populated with information by the IRS would mean that colleges benefit from the changes, as well.
Currently, colleges spend approximately $432 million annually verifying tax information provided by applicants on the FAFSA, Irons said. Having that information would help to free up time for administration officials to work directly with students, she said.