Every few seconds Brainerd resident Joseph Postell looked up from the mountain of papers in front of him, his eyes strained.
The application for federal college aid listed hundreds of questions, many with words he didn’t understand.
“It looks so complicated,” the 28-year-old said to the woman peering over his shoulder. “I wouldn’t have been able to do this if I hadn’t had help.”
Thousands of aspiring college students — and many of their parents — confront the complex Free Application for Federal Student Aid forms every year. But the 10-page application thwarts even the most determined, keeping many students from applying for college aid they are eligible to receive, experts say.
“The FAFSA can be very intimidating,” said Cynthia Wallace, who helped Mr. Postell complete the paperwork. Ms. Wallace is director of the Southern Appalachian Educational Opportunity Center, which helps low-income adults in Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia apply for college funding.
For help
Low-income adult students who need help filing for federal financial aid can contact the Southern Appalachian Educational Opportunity Center at 423-425-1702 or visit its Web site at www.utc.edu/Outreach/EducationalOpportunityCenter/.
A report by the U.S. Department of Education shows that at two-year colleges, 57 percent of students who are eligible for Pell grants complete the required forms. At public universities 76 percent of eligible students apply for the grants. More than 1 million students annually do not receive federal aid for which they are eligible, data shows.
To combat low applicant rates, the White House is proposing simplifying the application or eliminating the application altogether.
While financial aid administrators agree complex forms discourage people from applying for aid, there is no agreement about the best method to improve application numbers.
“Unfortunately, it has been rare for interested parties to agree on the best way to simplify the system,” according to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
Long forms
The current FAFSA can take up to two full days for some students to complete, Ms. Wallace said. One question, answered incorrectly, can knock applicants out of thousands of dollars in aid or trigger a rejection of their application altogether.
Many students don’t realize that they cannot receive their HOPE scholarships if they don’t fill out a FAFSA by Sept. 1. Also, some military veterans are unaware they can receive federal funds on top of the education aid they receive from the GI Bill, she said.
“When I think about all the people out there trying to do FAFSA alone, it scares me,” Ms. Wallace said. “It is extremely rare that I see (an application) that I don’t correct a mistake on, and I have seen those mistakes translate to real dollars for students.”
Dianne Cox, director of financial aid at Dalton State College in Dalton, Ga., said some students don’t compete for federal funding because they are sure they won’t get any.
Many students who file a FAFSA their freshman year don’t receive a federal grant and then don’t reapply the rest of their time at school, she said.
Of the 4,321 enrolled students who filed the FASFA during the last school year, 2,334 qualified for Pell grants, she said.
More than 67 percent of financial aid officers at colleges believe the Department of Education and the Internal Revenue Service should share information to eliminate income questions from the FAFSA. Fourteen percent are opposed to the move, according to a survey by the National Association of Students Financial Aid Administrators.
Similarly, 23 percent of administrators don’t want to allow students to apply for financial aid through their tax filing.
Ms. Cox said she is concerned about using tax documents for student financial aid because there are many people who don’t file taxes. The IRS should share information with the Department of Education to help eliminate some questions from FAFSA, she said.
“We all know that the application has gotten out of hand,” Ms. Cox said.
Haley Chitty, a spokesman for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, said government officials and legislators are considering several versions of simpler FAFSA forms.
“Low-income students would definitely benefit from a simpler form,” he said. “The question is, is it too simplified? We are worried people will get financial aid that don’t need it.”
For people like Mr. Postell the FAFSA is a paper hurdle worth overcoming. Recently released from prison, Mr. Postell dreams of opening a shop to sell purses and clothing in a mall.
“It will be worth it to go back to school,” he said.
