Justin Draeger, president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), has issued the following statement in regard to the FAFSA Fairness Act of 2019:  

“By providing a streamlined path for students experiencing issues like parental abandonment, abuse, and neglect to complete the financial aid application process, the FAFSA Fairness Act offers some of our nation’s most vulnerable students a simpler process for completing the FAFSA when they cannot provide parental information. Under today’s system, many of these students are falling through the cracks, as the FAFSA is considered incomplete without parental information. The FAFSA Fairness Act would allow these students to receive an estimated federal Pell Grant award and connect them with a financial aid administrator to discuss their personal situation, giving them hope and a next step.

This population faces enormous challenges when it comes to accessing higher education, and NASFAA applauds Congressman Cummings and Senators Cardin and Van Hollen for taking an important step, through the FAFSA Fairness Act, toward opening the doors of postsecondary education for these students. NASFAA looks forward to working with lawmakers to move this bill through the legislative process.”

About NASFAA
The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) is a nonprofit membership organization that represents more than 20,000 financial aid professionals at nearly 3,000 colleges, universities, and career schools across the country. NASFAA member institutions serve nine out of every ten undergraduates in the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., NASFAA is the only national association with a primary focus on student aid legislation, regulatory analysis, and training for financial aid administrators. For more information, visit www.nasfaa.org.