What does this say for our future students? Can this debt keep piling up because we need to go to school?
The FAFSA should be changed because it is not properly designed to determine the most ideal candidates to receive financial aid. Some may refute this because they may have received adequate aid for their particular financial situation. However, we often times forget about the thousands of others
who are financially neglected by the FAFSA itself. Some students who are negatively affected are those from troubled homes who are denied aid because of flawed criteria for eligibility.
Many things are not taken into account for the application. FAFSA has many different factors of eligibility; these factors include the household size, the income, and the number of students from the household in college. The reason these factors are requested is because is determines how much money is expected to be contributed from the student’s parents, whether it’s a reasonable amount or not. It also asks for a list of up to ten colleges that the student has or plans to apply to or is interested in and the form gets sent to those colleges. A student who can meet all of the following criteria may be eligible for aid: valid citizenship, a valid Social Security number; a high school diploma or GED; completes a FAFSA promising to use any federal aid for educational purposes only; does not owe refunds on any federal grants; is not in debt on any student loans; and has not been found guilty of the sale or possession of illegal drugs while federal aid was being received.
The flaws of the FAFSA may not be evident to those who are middle class and receive an adequate amount of aid, but what one should do to understand is look at things through a lower class person’s perspective. Things that are unaccounted for such as assets, debt, and spending, could make all the difference to send a struggling family enough aid to send their child to college. Changes to the FAFSA are a necessity in order to give the less fortunate a chance to shine and maybe even become our future leaders.
Work cited: http://www.asa.org/policy/resources/stats/
www.fafsa.ed.gov
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/blog/too-big-to-fail-student-debt-hits-a-trillion/
FAFSA CHECKLIST!
-Apply for a pin for both you and your guardian
-Gather your information
-fill out application
-select your colleges
-Apply by march 1st!
Apply at: