Prospective students use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to apply for Federal student financial aid, as well as for aid from State governments and most colleges and universities. According to a 2015 report from the college financing website Edvisors, however, an estimated 2 million low-income students would have qualified for a Federal Pell grant, but failed to correctly fill out or complete the FAFSA — a lengthy form with more than 100 questions.

Congress has taken note, and both Republicans and Democrats have introduced legislation to simplify the process and the application.

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chair Lamar Alexander (TN-R) has introduced the FAST Act (S. 108), a bipartisan bill that would reduce the FAFSA to a Student Aid Short Form that asks only two questions: What is our family size? And what was your household income two years ago? The bill would also streamline the process by combining loan programs, discouraging overborrowing, and simplifying repayment options.

Senator Michael Bennett (CO-D), a cosponsor of the bill, said, “We can increase access to college and higher education for students simply by making this government form easier to use. This long overdue change will encourage more students to apply for college.”

In the House, Representative Robert C. Scott (VA-D), the Ranking Minority Member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, recently introduced H.R. 5784, the File Once FAFSA Act. His bill would require Pell Grant recipients to file a FAFSA just once before going to college. Currently, low-income students and parents must refile the application annually with updated financial information. It would also allow students to certify via a simple form that they are still dependent students and simply state whether their circumstances have significantly changed.

In another recent move, on July 11, the House passed H.R. 5528, introduced by Representative Joe Heck (NVD), to codify a change implemented by the Obama Administration that allows students to begin filling out the application earlier by using income data from two years prior.

For more background and legislative history, see the November 2009 issue of Congressional Digest on “Federal Student Loans.”