Alexander calls for shorter student aid application

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) called on Congress to pass his bill that would shorten the federal student aid application form.

{mosads}“It’s hard enough to go to college without having to wade through answering 108 questions, 106 of which are unnecessary — and then have to waste time and money redoing the application forms because the department itself can’t keep up with the complexity,” Alexander said.

His comments came after the Department of Education announced that it would have to recalculate the eligibility of nearly 160,000 student aid applications because students incorrectly entered income data. Alexander pointed out that this latest announcement was in addition to 180,000 other applications that were revised in July.

Alexander and Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) have introduced legislation that would shorten the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application form from 108 questions to two.