Did tedious just become easier?
That’s what three members of the Department of Education in September 2009 explained to hundreds of high school counselors who gathered in Baltimore to hear the changes being made to the Free Application for Financial Student Aid. Hey, that applies to us! The Obama Administration announced the changes in June and they have been in effect since the beginning of this month.
Some Facts on the 2010 FAFSA
- The online application, which previously asked for more than 150 questions, now asks 22 fewer questions
- The applicant will be led to 17 less web screens than they would have in 2009
- Applications online for the FAFSA must be submitted by midnight Central Daylight time, June 30, 2010
- Corrections made to the application must be submitted online by midnight Central Daylight Time, September 21, 2010
- The online form is now more organized into categories such as, “student demographics,” “parent demographics,” “basic eligibility” and “dependency status”
- Once an applicant has filled out the application online, it will give an estimate of the student’s Pell Grant, giving them a figure of their eligibility for student loans
- Students who are married or are over 23 can skip over a section of parent finance questions that no longer apply to them
- Low income students no longer have to go through questions of assets that are irrelevant to their situation
- Students who are applying for aid in the spring 2010 quarter are able to upload their IRS tax data directly into the online FAFSA forms
- Full summary of changes on the FAFSA
