Obama moves to simplify FAFSA

Students and parents filling out the FAFSA form for financial aid will face a shorter, easier application, as President Barack Obama's plan to streamline the process has already been put into motion.

The Obama administration distributed a press release June 24 announcing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid will be made "shorter, simpler, and more user friendly."

According to the press release, the U.S. Department of Education has issued instant estimates for Pell Grant and student loan eligibility since May, eliminating long waits for applicants.

Additionally, beginning in January 2010, tax information needed on the FAFSA will be retrieved directly from the Internal Revenue Service for the online form. This will initially be available for students applying for financial aid for the spring semester.

Information input from the IRS would save students the time of shuffling through tax documents for answers to questions on the form.

The press release also said the administration will seek permission legislation to "eliminate financial information from the aid calculation formula that is not available from the IRS," which would remove 26 questions from the application. According to the release, the questions that would be eliminated "have little impact on aid awards and can be difficult to complete."

The changes that are being made to the FAFSA coincide with Obama's plan to increase post-secondary enrollment, and the changes are expected to particularly benefit low- and middle-income students.

By making the application less complicated, more students eligible for aid may apply.

In a fact sheet related to the press release, the education department estimates that 1.5 million students who may have been eligible for Pell grants did not apply. Students who are not filling out the FAFSA may be turned off by how complicated and time-consuming the form currently is.

"I know people who have thought they may not be eligible for financial aid, so they just put it off because they don't think it's worth it," said Margaret Khan, a junior civil engineering major.

Quiana Bell, a junior Japanese and sociology major, said she also has friends who are not confident they will get money from FAFSA, so they turn to other sources to fund their studies. She said it can be discouraging applying for federal aid because the amount of money received may differ over the years.

But Bell said she thinks Obama's plan to streamline the FAFSA will make it a lot easier to apply, a goal for Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

"Simplifying the FAFSA," Duncan said in the press release, "is another significant action in our quest to keep a college degree within the reach of every person who aspires to higher education."

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