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NextGen Magazine

 
 

Federal Student Aid Applications Are About to Get Simpler

By:
S.J. Steinhardt
Published Date:
Aug 30, 2023

GettyImages-963192098 Student Test Taking Exam

The Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) is expected to be revised in December, and the changes will include simplifying the form, making the process for obtaining the aid easier and enabling more students to obtain aid.

The expected changes are a result of the 2022 FAFSA Simplification Act, which will overhaul the processes and systems used to award federal student aid starting with the 2024–25 award year.

“There have been several long-standing concerns that the length and complexity of the FAFSA, and the lack of transparency and predictability its use provides for students and their families,  may discourage postsecondary educational access and attainment,” the Congressional Research Service stated in August 2022.

Among other changes, the law streamlines the FAFSA form by making it possible for students to have their tax information sent directly to the Department of Education from the IRS to calculate Federal Pell Grant eligibility. The law also removes questions about Selective Service registration and drug convictions, and adds questions about the applicants’ sex, race, and ethnicity. These questions have no effect on federal student aid eligibility, starting with the 2023–24 award year.

“Students will have far fewer errors perhaps transposing numbers or not understanding which line they were supposed to pull from,” Kim Cook, who leads the non-profit National College Attainment Network, told Marketplace.

Her organization, which is advising on the simplified FAFSA, found that more that 40 percent of high school seniors didn’t submit the form last year. “So we have a lot of money left on the table by those who are eligible for Pell Grants, but don’t know or understand about FAFSA, or started a FAFSA and decided it was too difficult,” she said.