The Washington Post covered Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Jill Biden's trip to a Washington DC high school to promote the streamlined Free Application for Federal Student Aid. These changes come, in part, as a result of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008.
Specifically, the Higher Education Opportunity Act tries to streamline the FAFSA Application Process by encouraging a reduction in the number of questions on the FAFSA form over the next five years. It further simplifies the FAFSA re-application process so that an applicant can provide updated information in subsequent years, rather than re-filing a new FAFSA form and enables the U.S. Department of Education and the Internal Revenue Service to work together to use information the government already has from applicants’ federal tax forms, such as income and asset information.
Additionally, it allows students and families to enter information and receive estimates of their Expected Family Contribution as well as their estimated federal student aid packages in the years before they fill out the FAFSA.
To help low-income families, there is now a two-page “FAFSA-EZ” form for low-income students and families who qualify for the “auto-zero” family contribution.
But the Committee has pushed for even further simplification of the FAFSA in the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (HR3221). This historic legislation was passed by the House in September and reduces the number of questions that a family must answer to determine a student’s financial aid eligibility.
When signed into law, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act will remove asset questions. H.R. 3221 allows the Department to replace the six current asset questions with a single “yes/no” question that most applicants will be able to answer easily. In place of the asset questions, H.R. 3221 creates an asset cap for need-based aid above which a student is ineligible for Pell Grants and subsidized Stafford loans. The asset cap is set at $150,000 and is indexed for inflation.
SAFRA would eliminate several items that students and families are asked to add to their income, such as child support payments received, military and clergy living allowances, and untaxed disability support. The only items remaining that are not on the tax form are items that students and families are allowed to subtract from their incomes. These include: combat pay, child support payments made, and scholarship aid that had been included as income on the tax form.
Learn more about the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act or see the new simplified FAFSA.
Specifically, the Higher Education Opportunity Act tries to streamline the FAFSA Application Process by encouraging a reduction in the number of questions on the FAFSA form over the next five years. It further simplifies the FAFSA re-application process so that an applicant can provide updated information in subsequent years, rather than re-filing a new FAFSA form and enables the U.S. Department of Education and the Internal Revenue Service to work together to use information the government already has from applicants’ federal tax forms, such as income and asset information.
Additionally, it allows students and families to enter information and receive estimates of their Expected Family Contribution as well as their estimated federal student aid packages in the years before they fill out the FAFSA.
To help low-income families, there is now a two-page “FAFSA-EZ” form for low-income students and families who qualify for the “auto-zero” family contribution.
But the Committee has pushed for even further simplification of the FAFSA in the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (HR3221). This historic legislation was passed by the House in September and reduces the number of questions that a family must answer to determine a student’s financial aid eligibility.
When signed into law, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act will remove asset questions. H.R. 3221 allows the Department to replace the six current asset questions with a single “yes/no” question that most applicants will be able to answer easily. In place of the asset questions, H.R. 3221 creates an asset cap for need-based aid above which a student is ineligible for Pell Grants and subsidized Stafford loans. The asset cap is set at $150,000 and is indexed for inflation.
SAFRA would eliminate several items that students and families are asked to add to their income, such as child support payments received, military and clergy living allowances, and untaxed disability support. The only items remaining that are not on the tax form are items that students and families are allowed to subtract from their incomes. These include: combat pay, child support payments made, and scholarship aid that had been included as income on the tax form.
Learn more about the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act or see the new simplified FAFSA.
