How Free is the FAFSA?

The first word on the Free Application for Federallarge there is little in the way of coaching or
Student Aid, the form all students must use to applyassistance for these families. The complexity, the
for federal financial aid programs, is "Free". However,timing - spring of senior year is too late to learn how
the FAFSA costs many families a lot of money in lostmuch college will cost so as to 'plan' for college costs
aid.- and the increasing gap between aid awarded and
The FAFSA is a 128 question form that is used toactual need all prevent lower income students from
determine a family's eligibility for need-based financialgetting a college degree.
aid and results in a number called the EstimatedMiddle income families are suffering from a very large
Family Contribution, or EFC. The U.S. Department ofdisconnect between what they see as their ability to
Education claims that the FAFSA takes one hour topay and what the FAFSA formula determines they
complete. How complicated is the form? According toshould be able to afford, even if the form is done
the Department of Education, approximately 80% ofcorrectly and on time. Many families either don't
the forms submitted for processing are donebother to apply, given the confusion in the process,
incorrectly or are incomplete. After submission,or do file the FAFSA and are shocked by their EFC.
families receive a Student Aid Report and are askedHow, for example, is a family earning $75,000 per
to confirm their answers and make corrections.year supposed to pay $20,000 per year for college?
Assuming the family notices errors or omissions andMany upper income families do not fill out the FAFSA
corrects these, the corrections are then resubmitted.because they just "know" they will not qualify for aid,
Usually, each time the process goes from the familysetting aside the hassle factor. However, almost
to the government back to the family one canevery family gets an offer of some kind of aid, even
expect a four to six week processing time. Federalif it's just a loan package, by going through the
financial aid is awarded on a first-come, first-servedprocess.
basis. Processing and correcting errors costs familiesThe fact that many families of all income levels don't
money because there is less aid available the longer itapply because of the confusion, misinformation, and
takes to submit correct aid reports to thehassle of the forms and processes is unfortunate,
government, who then passes the information alongand costs families many thousands of dollars per year
to the colleges who distribute federal money in thein college costs and/or missed opportunities.
form of loans and grants.In a recent draft of a report by the U.S. Secretary
If the 128 question FAFSA takes one hour toof Education's Commission on the Future of Higher
complete, how does that compare to the much moreEducation, the commission notes that "The existing
familiar tax forms? Most families file either the 1040Aconvoluted, complex and counterproductive financial
or the 1040EZ for federal tax purposes. Formaid system for students should be restructured and
1040EZ asks 37 questions; Form 1040A asks 83the current federal aid form (the Free Application for
questions. If we use U.S. Department of EducationFederal Student Aid, or FAFSA) should be eliminated..."
math, that means that the 1040EZ should take 17We couldn't agree more, but don't count on a
minutes to complete and the 1040A should only takemassive overhaul anytime soon. While you wait for
39 minutes. The Internal Revenue Service, however,systemic change, be advised to start the financial aid
suggests that the forms take 8 and 13 hours toprocess as early as possible. And remember to set
complete, respectively.aside more than an hour to fill out the (somewhat
For lower income families the complexity of thefree) FAFSA.
financial aid process can be overwhelming as by and