Government officials are considering steps to make applying for financial aid a little easier in 2010.
Proposals are being drafted to simplify the Federal Application for Federal Student Aid, which students seeking financial aid must fill out.
Today, the FAFSA is five pages long with about 100 questions. It requests technical financial information that can already be found on most tax forms.
The new FAFSA is looking to address its length and avoid forcing families to duplicate information on multiple forms.
"The process itself is a barrier," director of undergraduate financial aid Bill Schilling said of the current FAFSA.
There are now two proposals being drafted that promise to make the application process easier.
One proposal in Congress was developed as a result of a provision in the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act this past July.
The provision - which requires the Department of Education to develop an easier FAFSA that will be more accessible and understandable - will result in a shorter, simpler application.
The second proposal was created by Rethinking Student Aid, a private group sponsored by the College Board.
The group hopes Congress will pass a bill that will allow parents to authorize the Internal Revenue Service to release information to the government, thereby making the questions on the FAFSA unnecessary.
However, according to Bill Andresen, head of Penn's office in Washington, with upcoming changes in Congress and a new Secretary of Education, "nobody really knows what changes will be made." Additionally, nothing will likely happen until the end of next year, he added.
Current U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings laid out her plans last week to simplify student aid, but it is unclear how those proposals will play out in an Obama administration.
Her plans include shortening the FAFSA to two pages and other proposals similar to those offered by the Rethinking Student Aid panel.
But the new FAFSA has a number of complications.
According to Schilling, the current FAFSA includes a number of questions required by state grants. The shorter application will lack this information, thus requiring students to fill out more comprehensive forms for other state grants.
According to Mollie Flounlacker, assistant vice president for federal relations of the Association of American Universities, some colleges will incur costs by developing supplemental forms to obtain more information.
However, while Schilling said he believes schools like Penn will most likely require extra forms, a new FAFSA will not be a significant burden on the University.
The new FAFSA will help students who most need government help.
It will also set a maximum limit for subsidized loans and grants. The current process grants those funds based on the tuition of a student's school.
The new maximum will be set at the average tuition of a two-year public college and will be adjusted each year.
Students attending private colleges or school with higher tuition rates will be eligible for other federal grants and unsubsidized loans.
