Financial Aid in Education

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Financial Aid in Education

A guy in $50,000 of debt has got to be irresponsible with his money right? Actually, it is more likely that he is a college student. Hundreds of thousands of college students around the country are in a financial predicament because of the government?s impersonal financial aid policies. The federal government?s current system has too many quirks which end up hurting the people that financial aid is supposed to help. The federal government should change its financial aid policies to take several more factors, such as the percentage of educational expenses paid by the student, into account.

Under the present system, all students applying for federal aid file a form called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This form is meant to figure out the amount of money a family is able to shell out for an education, or the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Assuming the student does not qualify for independent status, both the expected contributions from the student and the parents are included in the EFC. In order for a student to get independent status you have to be married or over the age of twenty-four. After filing the FAFSA, the student will receive back a Student Aid Report (SAR) which includes the Expected Family Contribution. The way most schools determine the amount of aid you will receive is to subtract the Expected Family Contribution from the total costs of the university. Total costs include such things as tuition, room and board, insurance, and other miscellaneous expenses. The student receives the difference in loans and grants. A loan is financial aid that will have to be paid back, normally after the student graduates. A grant does not have to be paid back. A scholarship...

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...y the government.

There are several small ways that the government could improve their financial aid policies to make them more responsive to the student. I believe that all of the changes I have suggested are feasible. They might take some tinkering, but in the end they would be a change for the better. These changes would make it possible for the FAFSA to more fairly represent the needs of the student. It would never hurt to have the government put more money into education, but even if they do not, they need to do a better job of distributing the aid they give.

Sources Cited:

Kantrowitz, Mark. "Financial Aid Estimation Calculator." FinAid. 1999. http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml (13 Nov 00)

DAV. "Student Guide 2000-2001." U.S. Department of Education. 2000. http://www.ed.gov/prog_info/SFA/StudentGuide/2000-1/index.html (13 Nov 00)

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