Paying for college should be easier
Simplifying the financial-aid form would help more low-income students enroll
Occasionally the solution to an underachieving government program is refreshingly mundane. So it is that a simpler federal form may be all that separates millions of poor American students from a chance to get help paying for college.
In the 2015-2016 school year, about 2 million high school seniors — some 60 percent of the total — completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. Of those who don’t fill out the FAFSA, half would have been eligible for federal Pell grants, which don’t have to be repaid. Pell grants are awarded based on family need, up to an annual maximumof $5,920.
In part because many eligible students did not complete the FAFSA, an estimated $2.3 billion in Pell money is going unclaimed. Because the funds appropriatedby Congress last year exceeded the amount handed out, the Pell program is running a $8.5 billion surplus.
Unsurprisingly, congressional Republicans have proposed rescinding $3.3 billion from the surplus, which could prove shortsighted if demand for Pell grants spikes, as it did during the Great Recession. It would be better to preserve the surplus and make it easier for more college-bound students who are eligible for Pell grantmoney to apply for it.
The FAFSA was created in 1992 as a single application for all federal, state and college-based aid and was recently modified to boost completion rates. Despite improvements, the form remains excessively complex. It has 142 questions and requires applicants to upload their families’ previous year’s tax returns and document their assets — information that for most is less than readily available. For firstgeneration college applicants,the FAFSA takes more thanan hour to complete.
Modest steps would help. At least 30 questions on the FAFSA generate zero response from 99 percent of applicants — suggesting those questions can be eliminated. The application should also allow students whose families receive means-tested federal benefits — food stamps, for example — to bypass the requirement that they provide additional financial information. Most students from households poor enough to qualify for federal public assistance also meet the threshold to receive federal student aid. They shouldn’t be required to prove it twice.
If changes to the FAFSA affect the amount of aid that will be disbursed, however, Congress must approve them. That complicates the process, but it shouldn’t forestall it. A shorter, simplified application would increase Pell grant spending by an estimated $1.4 billion, cutting the annual amount currently left on the table by more than half and keeping the program in surplus.
The number of Americans attending college has increased by nearly 20 percent over the past decade. Millions more low- and middle-income students could afford to go if they simply applied for aid they’re eligible for. Making it easier for them to do so would be a cost-effective investment in America’s future.