Bipartisan legislation co-sponsored by Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) on Thursday would take steps to streamline and enhance the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) enrollment process.
Royce and Reps. Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.), Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), John Tierney (D-Mass.), Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) introduced the Simplifying the Application for Student Aid Act.
Under the current system, students are encouraged to apply for student aid in January to receive assistance for classes that begin the following fall. The application process requires income tax data from the previous year that may not be available until later in the spring.
The flaw leads some students to miss out on student aid they may qualify for because the aid is awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis. It also makes processing FAFSA forms difficult for administrative staff.
The Simplifying the Application for Student Aid Act would enable applicants to use financial data from two years prior to the date of the FASFA application to make the application process easier and allow students more time to prepare for college costs.
The measure would also link financial information stored by the IRS to the online FAFSA form so an individual’s income data could be automatically imported into the FAFSA form.
House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) said he was encouraged to see legislators working together on a bipartisan basis as part of ongoing efforts to reauthorize the Higher Education Act.
“We are committed to strengthening America’s higher education for students, families and taxpayers,” Kline said. “The legislation introduced (on Thursday) will begin to help improve a system that is too bureaucratic, too costly and outdated. I look forward to continuing to move this process forward in the coming weeks as we look to keep the dream of postsecondary education within reach for all Americans.”