National Conversation Initiative: Draft Simplified FAFSA Provided to White House
Last week, at the request of the administration, NASFAA delivered a draft simplified FAFSA to the White House National Economic Council.
The Draft Simplified FAFSA was developed to illustrate what a simplified FAFSA might look like under NASFAA's NCI simplification recommendations. The draft assumes those recommendations have been adopted. The assumptions include:
Students and families receiving any means-tested benefits will automatically qualify for the maximum Pell Grant
Students and families with income so low that they are not required to file a tax return will automatically qualify for the maximum Pell Grant
Students and families who do file tax forms can have their financial aid determined from adjusted gross income and household size
Students and families who file tax forms with tax schedules that demonstrate significant assets may need to have their AGI adjusted
Questions about unrelated social issues (drug conviction, etc.) have been removed
NASFAA's draft application form also assumes data verification between the Department of Education and the Departments of Treasury (tax data) and Health and Human Services (for means-tested benefits).
The simplified FAFSA is a prototype paper version; an electronic version could be made even more user-friendly by using skip logic that would bypass unnecessary questions (i.e., once the student's date of birth is known, the entire Student Status section can be skipped for those over 24 years of age, who are automatically considered independent).
Posted 05/19/09 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.
