New Proposal: Simplifying Application, Making FAFSA Faster

ERIN KIM
Staff Writer

On Sept. 14, President Barack Obama announced a proposal introducing the simplification of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) due to the form’s complexity and length. FAFSA is a financial aid form for students applying to college that is used in determining student grants, work study, and loan amounts. According to the White House, starting in October 2016, students will be able to fill out the FAFSA application months earlier than usual.

Students will also be able to electronically receive tax information filed for an earlier year. In addition to this revision, the Obama administration has also decided to simplify the process by eliminating up to 30 out of around 130 questions, therefore reducing the time required to finish the application from about 55 minutes to around 21 minutes.

Various students and families are in support of the new proposal as it makes the application process less complex and intimidating. According to Inside Higher Ed, FAFSA’s complex questionnaire scares families off and makes it difficult for students to apply for aid.

“I feel that students would be more motivated to fill out the application if the process was made shorter,” senior Rebecca Lopez said.

Not all are in support of the changes to the application process, however. According to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, many colleges and states are against the reduction of questions due to the concern that it would be harder to determine which students are in actual need of student aid.

However, President Obama has made the proposal of FAFSA’s simplification a priority and will continue to push for Congress’s approval.

“[T]he current questions have little to no impact on a student’s financial aid eligibility so cutting down the most complex questions will be a great help,” senior Barry Cheung said.