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FAFSA Simplification - What Does That Mean and How Do We
Get There?
Carney McCullough
Michele Brown
Session 24
Federal Student AidPolicy Influencers Inform a Simpler
Paper Form
3
The Advisory Committee
• The Advisory Committee on Student
Financial Assistance issued the results of their
simplification study entitled “The Student Aid
Gauntlet” on January 23, 2005.
– www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/acsfa/edlite-
about.html
4
The Advisory Committee
Four National Imperatives
Empower Students
• To make sound decisions about higher education
Make It Easy
• To ensure students get the financial aid they deserve
5
The Advisory Committee
Four National Imperatives (cont’d)
Lose The Paper
• To create an integrated web-based student aid system
Work Together
• To forge creative public-private access partnerships
6
The Advisory Committee
1. Create a System of Early Financial Aid
Information.
– Provide student from middle school through
adulthood with accurate and timely
information about financial aid, including
estimates of awards from multiple sources in
the context of college costs.
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The Advisory Committee
2. Make Federal Need Analysis Transparent,
Consistent, and Fair.
– Reform four major structural weaknesses in
the current eligibility model: the treatment of
student earnings, college savings plans, state
and local taxes, and special circumstances.
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The Advisory Committee
3. Expand Existing Simplification to More
Students.
– Extend the benefits of the automatic zero
Expected Family Contribution and the Simplified
Needs Test to as many low-and moderate-income
students as possible.
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The Advisory Committee
4. Allow All Students to Apply for Financial Aid
Earlier.
– Align the financial aid application and college
admissions processes and allow student to
apply in order to receive estimates of their
eligibility earlier in the college preparation
process.
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The Advisory Committee
5. Make the FAFSA Relevant and Understandable.
– Eliminate questions that are redundant or irrelevant to federal or state aid eligibility and simplify the language used on the form to make it more accessible to students and families.
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The Advisory Committee
6. Create a Simpler Paper Form for Low-
Income Students.
– Provide low-income students with a paper EZ
FAFSA, a highly simplified paper
application, and maximize to the extent
possible the number of students who can use
this form.
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The Advisory Committee
7. Phase Out the Full Paper Form and Increase
the Use of Technology.
– Establish a five-year timeline for phasing out
the complex, full paper FAFSA and move all
applicants to FAFSA on the Web.
13
The Advisory Committee
8. Simplify and Streamline FAFSA on the Web.
– Ensure that applicants complete a tailored,
on-line form that contains the minimum
number of questions necessary to deliver
federal and state aid and can sign their
application electronically without delay.
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The Advisory Committee
9. Simplify the Verification Process.
– Create and implement a centralized, web-
based verification system to reduce burden on
students, lower costs to institutions, and
improve the quality of date use to ensure
program integrity.
15
The Advisory Committee
10. Create a National Partnership to Make Access
Simple and Certain.
– Strengthen public-private partnerships based
upon effective state models already in place in
order to fully implement the improvements
outlined above and lower unmet need.
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Secretary’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education
Recommendations from the Secretary’s
Commission on the Future of Higher
Education released September 2006
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Higher Education Reconciliation Action Act of 2005 (HERA)
• The Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005
(HERA) was signed by President Bush on
February 8, 2006. This bill made changes to the
current Higher Education Act (HEA) that will
affected borrowers, institutions, and lenders.
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Higher Education Reconciliation Action Act of 2005 (HERA)
• Simplified Needs Test and Automatic Zero EFC
– Only parent’s type of tax return filed will be considered for dependent students
– Federal means-tested benefit program as alternative to tax return requirement
• Automatic Zero EFC Only
– Increases the income threshold from $16,000 to $20,000 to qualify for an automatic zero EFC
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HERA – Need Analysis Changes
• Federal Means-Tested Benefit Programs --
students may now qualify for SNT or Auto
Zero EFC if, in addition to meeting the
relevant income thresholds, they or their
spouse or parents received benefits from a
means-tested Federal benefits program
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HERA – Need Analysis Changes
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• Food Stamps
• Free or Reduced Price Lunch
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF)
• Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for
Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
Historical FAFSA Simplification Efforts
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1973
• First BEOG
application
• 2 pages long, asked 50
questions that required
up to 80 responses
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1993
• Reauthorization required
single federal form
• Added state questions to
reduce numbers of states
with separate applications
• Used alpha-numeric
number scheme (e.g., 44a,
44b, 44c etc.)
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1994
• FAFSA numbering
scheme changed, assigned
numbers to each response
• Went from an apparent 47
questions to 113 responses
(same questions as 1993
form)
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1997-1999
• FAFSA was 16 pages
long- 4 page application,
12-page instruction book
• Began 2-year redesign
effort
• Worked with schools and
states to reduce data
elements
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1999-2000
• Current format, 4-page application and 4-page Notes section
• Extensive usability testing- dropped SNT worksheets as too complex
• Eliminated 8 pages of instructions
• Plain-language approach
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Reauthorization in 1992 and 1998, HERA in 2005
• Did not eliminate any statutory requirements and
added new questions, for example:
– Are you eligible to file a 1040A or EZ?
– Preparer’s Information
– Drug conviction question
– Receipt of federal benefits
– Active duty military question
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Application Processing Statistics
For 2006-07 –
• 94% of applications filed
electronically
• 6% of applications filed
on paper FAFSA
Paper vs. Electronic Filers through Week 38
0
2000000
4000000
6000000
8000000
10000000
12000000
Electronic Apps Paper Apps
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
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Contact Us
We appreciate your feedback and comments.
We can be reached at:
Carney McCullough
Michele Brown
