"Delivering on long-awaited improvements, the Department of Education will soon release a streamlined version of its widely used college financial aid form, known as the FAFSA, to less than 20 questions that could take some people just 10 minutes to fill out, officials told ABC News," ABC News reports.

..."The bureaucratic barriers that can be created by FAFSA have long been a thorn in the side of advocates attempting to get more aid to the students who need it, said Justin Draeger, president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, a nonprofit that serves financial aid employees at schools around the country.

'We know the No. 1 barrier that students and families cite for not attending college is affordability -- that it's too unaffordable,' Draeger said.

'The entryway to all of that is the FAFSA, and so we want to make this form accessible to as many students and families as we can,' he said.

Draeger and other advocacy groups were hoping to see the Department of Education roll out the new form earlier in the academic year, in line with the October launch date for the FAFSA in recent years, giving families a chance to take advantage of the promised improvements in the college application process for the 2024-2025 school year.

'Generally speaking, the earlier we can get financial aid information to students and families, the earlier they can start to plan for how they're gonna pay for college," Draeger said.'"

NASFAA's "Notable Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Articles included under the notable headlines section are not written by NASFAA, but rather by external sources. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.

Publication Date: 11/15/2023