Helping Kids Get to College

Last week, Mitchell Hirsch wrote about the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act passing the House. One of the key things SAFRA does is to make it easier for families to apply for financial aid by simplifying the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, form.

That sounds less flashy than increasing Pell Grants to $5,500, but it turns out it’s really important. (Those of you who have had to fill out this insanely-difficult form may be nodding your heads here.) How important? Turns out, it can be the difference between going to college and not, for more than a few students.

Researchers recently took nearly 17,000 low and moderate income families and divided them into three groups. One third of the families got no help. One third received information about their eligibility for aid, based on their tax returns. A final group not only got the eligibility information, but had their tax information imported into FAFSA, so that instead of taking 12 hours to fill out, it took 10 minutes.

The most pronounced effects were on high school seniors who received both types of help. Thirty percent more of them enrolled in college, 33 percent more won federal aid, and 39 percent more submitted FAFSAs than those in the control group, who did not get the assistance.

Young adults already out of high school benefited from the help as well. Twenty percent more of them enrolled in college, nearly three times as many completed the FAFSA, and 20 percent more won financial aid.

Among young people who had completed some college, 58 percent more of those who got both types of help from H&R Block submitted the federal financial-aid forms, and 13 percent more got financial aid than their counterparts who didn’t have the assistance. Their likelihood of getting financial aid was only marginally higher, though, and their chances of re-enrolling in college were no higher.

They got help filling out a form—and they were 30% more likely to go to college. That is an astounding result, and another angle on why the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act is so very important.