ARCHIVE POST – President Obama has promised to improve this nation’s student financial aid system, and that includes overhauling the process of applying for assistance. Top on the President’s list is the Free Application for Student Aid, AKA the FAFSA, which is currently a long and rather complex document that needs to be filled out on line or on paper in order to qualify for federal aid.
The document asks students questions about their family’s income, savings and other resources in order to determine how much assistance one is eligible for.
The President Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, has recently announced that the Administration plans to completely eliminate the FAFSA and rely instead on an individual’s tax returns to figure financial aid. Secretary Duncan plans to launch this switch by asking Congress to remove any questions on the FAFSA which relate to information on a student’s or his/her family’s tax return.
Just think: One day you might be able to apply for federal financial aid by simply checking a box on your tax returns! Could it be any easier?! In the meantime, of course, the FAFSA is still a necessary evil. While the 2009-2010 FAFSA deadline is long past, you may want to start gearing up for next year’s FAFSA by taking a look at some of these past posts from our FAFSA Workshop Series:
