FINANCIAL AID

Within a week, the Senate has passed a second piece of legislation aimed at making life easier for students. This new bill targets low and middle-income students who wish to apply for federal financial aid. It passed unanimously, according to the Washington Post, and contains the following provisions:

• The current FAFSA, Free Application for Federal Financial Aid, would be simplified from its current lengthy, redundant and confusing form.
• It would become illegal for banking institutions to provide gifts or expense-paid trips to colleges and financial aid officials in order to secure a spot on the preferred lender list.
• The government would be required to publish a list detailing the colleges whose costs are increasing at a rate higher than those of comparable schools.

Both the Senate and House still have some compromise work to do on the first and second bills. But if they are passed into law, students – including those who attend accredited online schools - will receive more financial aid, they will be able to trust that colleges are not being paid to push specific student loan lenders, the FAFSA will take less time to fill out, and valuable information will become available concerning college costs.

Things are looking up for students. So Congress, keep that ball rolling!

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