A panel of experts assembled by the Government Accountability Office has concluded what many studies of simplifying the Fafsa, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, already know: More low-income students may apply if the process is made easier, but the changes might also mean the government collects less data and therefore might not end up doing as good a job of sending dollars where they most deserve to go.
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One Response to GAO Study Panel Sees Trade-Offs in Simplifying Student-Aid Form
evansrwe - October 30, 2009 at 10:19 am
At last, somebody acknowleges that there are trade-offs to simplification, even though I suspect that the concerns are understated. Much has been made about the complexity discouraging applicants, but it should be recognized that not all non-applicants are deterred by the complexity of the form itself, but of the whole process (FAFSA, verification, institutional processing, etal.) and others just don’t want to provide the government any information, no matter how limited. Private loans have been as successful as they have because they are quick and easy, even though they are more expensive.