A new survey of financial aid administrators (FAAs) by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrator's (NASFAA's) Federal Issues Committee reveals that, despite the perception of prevailing disagreement about simplification, there is some common ground among FAAs. The survey of more than 1,400 FAAs details opinions on the application process, federal methodology, the delivery system, and possible pros and cons of some of the simplification suggestions.

While opinions on some simplification issues differed significantly, the survey clearly shows that FAAs feel strongly that the current financial aid system -- including the application form, application process, need analysis methodology, and the student financial aid programs themselves -- must be simplified in order to achieve its objectives of helping needy students to attend college. The survey also revealed that:

• More than 90 percent of the respondents "support" or "strongly support" using a "smart" electronic FAFSA that is linked to various federal databases to populate the appropriate data. Respondents feel that such matches will help reduce excessive administrative costs and decrease application error rate, enabling financial aid offices to spend more time counseling and assisting individual students.

• More than 80 percent of aid administrators also believe that a "smart" Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will not hinder the proper administration of state or institutional grant programs.

• Aid administrators support eliminating non-pertinent items from FAFSA, using a "FAFSA Postcard" for students from low-income families, and adding "consider me for financial aid" on IRS tax forms. They believe this would make the aid application process less overwhelming for needy students.

• Aid administrators believe a federal student aid system that uses one grant, one loan, and one work program would reduce confusion and frustration currently experienced by students and families as they try to understand various types of student aid available to them.

• Aid administrators believe that no real simplification can be achieved without considering administrative burden on the institution because the financial aid process involves students and institutions.

The complete survey is available online.

A more in-depth summary of the survey is also available online.

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. Each year, financial aid professionals help more than 16 million students receive funding for post secondary education. 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.

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