EXPERTS ADVISORY

Susan Dynarski, University of Michigan professor of public policy, economics and education, has done significant research about the benefits of simplifying the federal student aid application process and can discuss the significance of President Obama’s plans along with federal legislation.

“The widely despised form known as the FAFSA (which stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is unnecessary. The FAFSA is required of all students seeking federal aid, but the information needed to calculate eligibility for that aid is already collected by the I.R.S. In a simplified aid system, tax filers could just check a box on the 1040 to learn immediately about eligibility for federal grants, loans and tax credits,” Dynarski wrote in a recent op-ed in the New York Times.

She and fellow researchers examined detailed data from thousands of aid applications and aid packages, testing how aid would change if questions were eliminated from the FAFSA.

“We found that dozens of questions on the FAFSA contribute virtually nothing to the determination of grant aid,” Dynarski wrote. “Getting rid of the FAFSA could narrow the large gaps in college attendance that persist between the rich and poor in the United States.”

Contact: 734-615-5113, dynarski@umich.edu

More information:

• New York Times op-ed
• Related study (PDF): Student Aid Simplification