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 Among the measures Obama will announce in Des Moines, Iowa, on
Monday will be allowing aspiring college students and their families
to apply earlier under the Free Application for Federal Student Aid,
or FAFSA. The FAFSA application helps determine eligibility for
federally supported student loans as well as Pell Grants, a federal
need-based student aid program.
Under the initiative to be announced by Obama, students will be able
to file FAFSA applications in October, the start of the college
application process, rather than having to wait until January.
Students also will be able to electronically retrieve tax
information filed for a previous year rather than waiting until tax
season to finish their applications.
"Learning about aid eligibility options much earlier in the college
application and decision process will allow students and families to
determine the true cost of attending college – taking available
financial aid into account – and make more informed decisions," the
White House said in a statement.
Spiraling student debt has become a growing national concern, with
student loans now totaling some $1.2 trillion, making them the
second largest form of household debt after mortgages.
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The White House said that despite a simplified FAFSA process, an
estimated 2 million college students never sought a Pell Grant
despite being eligible, while an unknown number never went to
college because they did not know aid was available.
"Over the next several years, the simpler FAFSA filing process could
encourage hundreds of thousands of additional students to apply for
and claim the aid they are eligible for – and enroll in college,"
the White House statement said.
(Reporting by Peter Cooney; Editing by Paul Simao)
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