A nonprofit organization dedicated to make higher education more affordable and accessible is singing the praises of the Obama administration for finally making an administrative adjustment to America’s labyrinthine financial aid process — fully eight years after the group first championed the change.
The organization is the Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS).
The change is brutally simple. Beginning late in 2016, students applying for financial aid will be able to provide their family’s income from two years earlier. The federal government will no longer require information from the previous year.
The Obama administration announced the shift on Sunday.
Obama said three years ago that he would Obama make higher education reform a central goal for his second term in office, notes The Hill. (RELATED: Obama Throws A Bone To Americans Crushed With Student Loans)
“This important change means students will be able to apply for aid earlier and more easily, and make better informed decisions about where to apply and how to pay for college,” a statement from the California-based Institute for College Access and Success gushed.
“TICAS has been calling for this much-needed timing fix since 2007, and the change has garnered support from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress as well as from dozens of organizations concerned with college access and completion,” the statement added.
“We’re thrilled that the Administration will announce tomorrow that it is taking a crucial step to dramatically simplify and improve the financial aid process for millions of students and families,” TICAS also said the statement sent to The Daily Caller.
“Starting next year, millions more students and parents will be able to transfer their tax data directly into the online Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA), eliminating the need to transcribe or estimate answers to up to 20 high-stakes questions. Since the tax information is from the IRS, it will not need verification, which reduces paperwork burdens for students and costs for colleges. This also means students can apply for aid when or even before they apply to college, instead of having to wait weeks or months until both the FAFSA and the required tax information become available.”
For some time, a number of colleges and universities as well as several Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been pushing Obama to make the dramatically simple change using his executive power.
Students won’t actually be able to take advantage of the ability to provide two-year-old income data until late in 2016.
White House officials have said they hope the change will help students receive federal and state money more rapidly.
TICAS is generously funded by a host of well-known foundations including the Ford Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
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