Advocates for college access have long argued that the application students must file to receive federal financial aid is too complicated. But simplifying the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or Fafsa, might not be enough to ensure access.
Less attention has been paid to the additional paperwork many students must complete to receive aid, but that burden, too, can prevent otherwise-eligible students from getting the money they need to pay for college, according to a new report from the Institute for College Access & Success. The report, which tracks students who applied for aid to attend 13 California community colleges, found that on average about a third of those applicants who appeared to be eligible for federal Pell Grants did not receive them.
One of the main hurdles is a process called verification, in which the Education Department flags applications and then colleges collect documentation to confirm that the information on them is correct.
The report is timely. The department is seeking public comment on a proposed rule that would eliminate a cap on the share of applications that colleges must verify, a step that the institute argues would magnify the problem. Currently, colleges do not have to check more than 30 percent of their aid applications, even if the department flags a greater share for verification.
Hurting Pell-Eligible Students
The Institute for College Access & Success looked at the financial-aid process that applicants went through after completing their applications and found that, among applicants who appeared to be Pell-eligible, those who were selected for verification were 7 percent less likely to receive the grants. While other factors may be at play, the finding suggests that the process itself hinders many applicants. Meanwhile, only about 2 percent of those who completed the verification process became ineligible for Pell Grants as a result.
The report, “After the FAFSA: How Red Tape Can Prevent Eligible Students From Receiving Aid,” recommends, among other things, that colleges:
Reconsider requiring additional documents. Some colleges ask applicants for information, like copies of drivers’ licenses, not required by the federal government. The report suggests such additional requirements may do more harm than good.
Do not verify more students than necessary. Unless colleges have a reason for suspecting students’ applications routinely contain errors, the report suggests they not go beyond the level of verification the department requires.
Make communication more student-friendly. Ensure reminders and notices sent to students are in plain language and are distributed through multiple channels.
Provide adequate funds for financial-aid offices. Aid administrators will need time, training, and support to improve the verification process.
The report also recommends that the Education Department:
Keep the cap on the share of applicants colleges must verify. The report suggests that removing the cap would place unnecessary hurdles before needy students.
Allow all applicants to preset their federal student-aid forms with their own tax data. The Education Department and the Internal Revenue Service have begun a pilot program to allow some aid applicants to electronically transfer tax information from their 1040 forms to their federal aid applications, and the proposed rules would let colleges accept the information in place of a tax form. But not all low-income students have to file taxes, leaving them out of this simplified process. The report suggests letting students use data from W-2 forms to “pre-populate” the aid form.