Released: June 25, 2009

Plans to free up ‘Free Application’ for student aid

Source: Mary Beth Marklein, USA Today

Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced plans Wednesday to simplify the application process for federal student aid, including a feature that lets some users skip irrelevant questions and a proposal to eliminate other questions. It also would allow families to use tax-related information they already provide to the IRS.

Both Duncan and IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman called the current system a nightmare. Shulman described the form used now as “an endurance test for students and their families.”

One goal is to ease the burden on the 16 million students and families a year who gather up bank statements, investment information and other documentation needed to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. It asks as many as 153 questions, depending on a student’s circumstance.

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