FAFSA online form simplified under changes

By: Naomi Parikh

Posted: 7/3/09

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced several proposed changes to simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, June 24.

The application, used annually by college students to obtain government loans and grants, has been criticized by experts as being too lengthy with many unnecessary questions. Each student is asked as many as 153 questions.

First, Duncan called for simplifying the online application by skipping unnecessary questions. Starting this summer, the application will allow students who are married or over the age of 24 and are automatically exempt from providing parental information, to avoid 11 questions that determine if parental information is necessary.

Melissa M. Englund, assistant vice president for Enrollment Planning and Retention Services at Drexel University, said the University recommends students use the online form, as it allows for fewer misinterpretations and is processed faster.

"With the online form, there's no question of whether the number is a one or a seven, so little problems like that are eliminated, and it takes less time to go through," Englund said.

According to Englund, simplifying the online form is a realistic change because it only requires programming changes that let the technology skip over inapplicable questions for each student.

Duncan said more changes to the online application will be implemented in January. Low-income students will not be asked for asset information, and only returning students will be questioned about prior drug convictions.

Another proposed change, according to a White House press release, was the complete removal of several questions from the application through legislation. Duncan said many of these questions do not affect financial aid eligibility and are difficult to confirm, as they do not ask for information already on tax forms. Removing these questions would allow students to apply using mainly their tax information.

However, Englund said legislative changes could potentially be a "long process," as these will require agreement from both political parties.

"Changes where you need to see information from other federal agencies are more difficult to implement, because they require intra-agency communication," Englund said. "Changes to law will be the most difficult."

The third bulk of proposed changes includes having the Internal Revenue Service provide financial information from tax forms. According to the press release, the IRS could answer up to 20 questions for students.

Englund said taking the appropriate values from already-filed taxes and entering them in the FAFSA would be the next big step after filling in other previously-reported information for students to verify.

"Every step will help, but I think that without a number of the steps happening, it will not simplify the form dramatically," Englund said. "We can't overhaul the system in one fell swoop, but any one change that can help some families or cut down time by even 10 percent does add up."

The Continuing Students Financial Aid Appeals Committee helps students whose financial status changes during the school year to find other state or federal resources, Englund added. Students fill out a form for the committee, which includes representatives from every college, the financial aid office, and the Provost's office, and the committee makes specific recommendations.

"We haven't seen a significant increase in the number of students who have gone through the committee, but there's always certain number of families who have a significant change in finances during the year," Englund said. "Most families figure out in the beginning of the year how to pay for the undergraduate bill, though."

Past changes to the FAFSA include simplifying the process for obtaining a PIN number online and an "auto reset" for those who forget or lose their PIN.