HattieKruschek

McConnell
English10
12/16/2014

UnitedStatesFinancialAidSystem
Imagineaworldwhereonlyoneoutofthreestudentsgototheiridealschool
becausethecostistoohigh.Well,thatworldistheonewearelivingintoday.A
student'sprimarygoalforcollegeistolearnsotheycanbecomeasuccessfuladultin
thefutureandmeettheirdreamjobgoal.Financialaidplaysahugeroleintostudents
decidingthatcollegeisthepaththeywanttotakeandallowingthemtoaffordschool.
Thefinancialaidsystemhasbeenstrengthenedoverthedecadesbuttherearestill
multipleareasthatcanbeimprovedfurther.
TheFAFSAisaformrequiredbytheUnitedStatesgovernmentforrequestof
federalstudentaid.Theapplicationisusedtodeterminetheexpectedfamily
contributionbasedonfamilyfinancialinformation.
TheFAFSAformalongwithscholarships,arebeingmodernizedtoaffectmore
studentsbutstillhaveroomforimprovements.In2009,abillwasputforthintheHouse
ofRepresentativestoinvest$40billiontoincreasePellGrantscholarships,strengthen
lowinterestPerkinsLoansforstudentsmostinneedandbolstercollegeaccessand
completionrates(Smilovitz).Thebillwasanexampleofscholarshipsbeingchangedto
allowmorestudentstogotopostsecondaryschooling.Afewextrathousanddollarsin
astudentsscholarshipfundcouldmakeorbreakthemgoingtotheirdreamschoolor
possiblyanyschoolatall.Thebillwaslaterpassedanditwouldbethefirstmajor
overhaulofthegovernment'sstudentloanprogramssincetheywerecreatednearly40
yearsago(ABCNews).Thisbillstartedachainreactiontothechangesbeingmade
todayregardingthefinancialaidsystem.Alongwithscholarshipsbeingrevamped,the

FAFSAapplicationisexperiencingsomechangesaswell.Currently,onlyoneparentin
asamesexcouplecanbeincludedontheform[FAFSA],sincetheDefenseofMarriage
Actdefinesmarriageasbetweenonemanandonewoman,preventstheirmarriages
frombeingrecognizedwiththefederalgovernment(Ellis).Intheparentssectionofthe
formmotherandfatherwillbecomeParent1andParent2(Ellis).Thechangestothe
FAFSAformwillmakedeterminingfinancialaidforstudentsequalbecausethe
informationwillbecomingfrombothparents.
Thesechangeswillallowustomorepreciselycalculatefederalstudentaid
eligibilitybasedonwhatastudent'swholefamilyisabletocontributeandensure
taxpayerdollarsarebettertargetedtowardthosestudentswhohavethemost
need,aswellasprovideaninclusiveformthatreflectsthediversityofAmerican
families,"U.S.SecretaryofEducationArneDuncansaidinastatement(Ellis).

Thischangecouldresultinmorestudentsgettingthechancetogotoschoolwithout
involvingtheirhomelifecircumstances.
Althoughextrafinancialaidisgrantedtostudentswhoseparentsareservingor
havediedincombat,itdoesnotreachallstudents.NoteverycountrywhereUnited
Statesveteransareservingaffectstheamountofstudentaidaveteranschildreceives.
IfyourparentdiedasaresultofmilitaryserviceinIraqorAfghanistanaftertheevents
of9/11,youmightbeeligibleforadditionalFederalPellGrantfundingorforanIraqand
AfghanistanServiceGrant(KGOTV).Addingeverycountrytothelistcouldresultin
moreUnitedStatessoldierschildrengoingtocollegeorfeelingthattheyhavetheoption
ofmoreeducationafterhighschool.ThechangesbeingmadetotheFAFSAand
scholarshipswillallowimmensechangesintheeducationdepartment.Morestudents
attendingcollegeortheideaofattendingcollegeisneverabadthing,theserevisions
willbeapositivechange.Althoughthesechangesarebeingmadethereisstillroomfor
adjustments,concerningeligibilityforextrafinancialaid.

Manyscholarshipsareavailabletostudentsbutveryfewcoveralloftuitioncost
ormultiplescholarshipscombinedequalthetotalcost.Veryfewpeoplenoteven1
percentpayfortheentirecostofcollegethroughscholarshipsandgrants,Kantrowitz
estimates.Thecommonthreadamongthosewhodowinalotofscholarshipmoneyis
thattheypursueasmanyopportunitiesastheycan,hesaid(Chandler).Mostpeople
knowandunderstandthatittakesalotofhardworkandcommitmentwhenitcomesto
applyingforfinancialaid,grants,andscholarships.Althoughmanystudentsworktheir
hardesttopayforcollegetheyarestillbombardedwithtuitioncostsandlargeamounts
debt.Otherwaysofcoveringtuitioncostshavebeenconstructedsuchas,Oregonhigh
schoolgraduateswillbeabletoattendpublicinstitutionsinthestateatnoinitialcostif
theyagreetocontributeasmallpercentageoftheirfutureincometohelppayforother
studentsintheprogram(HamiltonandArmstrong).Thisisjustonewayofhow
programsarebeingmadetohelpstudentsattendpostsecondaryschooling.Another
exampleofhowmoremoneywasgiventostudentswaswhen,
GeorgiaStateUniversitytriedanexperiment.Whenalargenumberofcurrent
studentswereatriskofbeingdroppedbecausetheycouldn'tpaytheirfees,the
universitygavethemsmallgrants,under$1,000.Theprogramsucceededin
retainingstudentswhichmeantretaining$660,000intuitiondollarsthatwould
otherwisehavebeenforgone(ArmstrongandHamilton).
Despitethisbeingagreatwaytokeepstudentsinschoolmoremoneyshouldbe
availableinthebeginningoftheschoolyearsostudentsdonthavethestressofpaying
forschoolingduringtheyearalongwithdoingwellacademically.Overall,schoolsand
universitiesaretryingtomakeobtainingfinancialaideasierandlessstressful.Granted,
thisisnotworkingbecausemanystudentsarestillchoosingtoskipoutoncollege

becauseofcosts.Morefulltuitionscholarshipsorbigticketscholarshipswouldmakeit
easierforstudentstogetafullridetotheirschool.
Thecostofcollegehasrisendramaticallyovertheyears.Schoolsthatwere
formerlymanageablecostsarenowbecomingveryexpensiveschools.Overthepast
twodecades,they'verisenroughlytwiceasfastasinflation.Itnow[1998]costs$31,100
ayeartoattendHarvard,almosttwiceasmuchasadecadeagoandmorethanfour
timesasmuchas20yearsago(Vogelstein&Toch).Lastyear(2013)thepriceto
attendHarvardwas$56,407andthetotaltuitionandboardcosttoattendHarvardthis
year(2014)is$58,607.Thepricesareconstantlychangingandnoneseemtobe
decreasing.Thousandsofdollarseachyeararebeingaddedtothebilltoattenda
university.Financialaidseemedtobehelpingstudentswiththehightuitioncostsbut
nowtheyarebarelyhelpingthem.
"Forawhile,grantaidrosereallyrapidlyandcushionedpriceincreases,"says
SandyBaum,acoauthorofthreereportstheCollegeBoardreleasedon
Wednesday."Now,it'snotrisinganymoreinanysignificantway.Sothatmeans
whenthepricegoesup,studentshavetopaymostofthatpriceincrease,which
wasn'ttrueafewyearsago"(Bidwell).

Financialaidformerlyhadanimpactonthetuitioncostyearsagobutrecentlywiththe
hightuitionpricesitisbarelydecreasingtheoverallbill.Determiningfinancialaidand
expensivetuitioncostsarebothflawedandbotharecrashingdownonstudentsat
aboutthesametime.Verylittlefinancialoutreachfromschoolscouldbecausing
familiestochoosethatcollegeisnotanoption,secondorthirdjobsneedtobetakento
covercosts,oroutrageousamountsofdebtisaccumulated.Tuitionpricesare

constantlyontheriselimitingtheamountofstudentstoattendpostsecondary
schooling.
Althoughthefinancialaidsystemhasbeenmodifiedinmanywaysnationally,
statewide,andinschoolstherearestillimprovementsthatcanbemadetothesystem
toaffectmoreworthystudents.Schoolsandgovernmentalgroupsshouldseizethe
opportunitytomodernizethefinancialaidsystemtocontributetothefuturegenerations
ofyoungadultsintheworld.

Works Cited
1. Bidwell, Allie. "The Rise Is In Tuiton Is Slowing, But College Still Costs
More." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 24 Oct. 2013. Web. 10
Dec. 2014.
2. Chandler, Michael. "A Cornucopia of College Scholarship Money." SIRS.
2 Apr. 2014. Web. 16 Dec. 2014.
<http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-clean-copy?id=SWI0360-0-829&type
=ART&artno=0000362453&key=Financial%20aid%20to%20students
%20(See:%20Student%20aid)&shfilter=U>.
3. Ellis, Blake. "Federal Financial Aid Form Recognizes Same-sex
Parents." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 1 May 2013. Web. 16 Dec.
2014.
<http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/01/pf/college/same-sex-financial-aid
/>.
4. "FAFSA." What Is ? Definition and Meaning. 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 16 Dec.
2014.
5. Hamilton, Laura, and Elizabeth Armstrong. "Creative Solutions to Pay
for College." The New York Times. 6 Nov. 2013. Web. 16 Dec. 2014.
6. "House Passes Bill to Revamp Financial Aid."ABC News. 17 Jan. 2009.
Web. 16 Dec. 2014.

7. O'Shaughnessy, Lynn. "Calculations to Establish Financial Need for

College Are Flawed." The New York Times. 6 Nov. 2013. Web. 16 Dec.
2014.
Smilovitz, Jacob. "If Passed, U.S. House Bill Could Revamp Financial Aid
Process." The Michigan Daily. 15 Sept. 2009. Web. 16 Dec. 2014.
Vogelstein, Fred, and Thomas Toch. "Paying for College." SIRS. 17 Sept.
1998. Web. 16 Dec. 2014.
"Who Gets Aid | Federal Student Aid." Who Gets Aid | Federal
Aid. Web. 16 Dec. 2014.

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