Booker Applauds Obama Administration Initiative to Simplify College Financial Aid Process

White House Action Allowing Students and Families to Apply for Aid Earlier was Outlined in Booker Legislation Introduced in 2014 Changes Would Let Students, Families Use “Prior-Prior” Year Income Data to Complete FAFSA and Apply for Aid

September 14, 2015

Washington, DC – U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) issued the following statement applauding the Obama Administration’s college financial aid simplification initiative announced today. Under the plan, beginning October 1, 2016, students and families will be able to fill out the FAFSA for the 2017-2018 academic year using “prior-prior year” income data as they are preparing for the college application process, rather than having to wait until January 1^st. This change was also included in Sen. Booker’s Simplifying Financial Aid for Students Act of 2015, first introduced in May of 2014 and again this July.

“It should never be easier to finance a car or a home than to finance a long-term investment in a young person’s education. These changes will simplify the college financial aid process and help students and their families qualify for more financial aid, which will help keep college within reach. That’s why I introduced the Simplifying Financial Aid for Students Act, which reforms and streamlines the FAFSA application process. And it’s why I am encouraged that the Administration has committed to taking the same steps outlined in my bill so students and their families can more easily get the aid they need and deserve.”

The Simplifying Financial Aid for Students Act of 2015 calls for the use of tax data from the preceding year. Currently, students can file the FAFSA to qualify for Pell Grant and Direct Loans at any point in the award year, but that is not the case for certain types of state aid, which are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Many institutions of higher education require students to file their FASFA “as soon as possible after January 1, 2012” in order to receive state aid. Employers do not have to provide W-2 forms until the end of January and many students are unable to complete the FASFA until February at the earliest, which can result in families not receiving the maximum aid they are eligible to receive. Basing eligibility on tax data from the prior year will ease the burden on these families by allowing them to submit tax forms they already possess and file for aid sooner.

In June, Booker joined U.S. Sens Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) to lead a letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan urging him to use his authority to allow the use of data from the second preceding tax year, also known as “prior-prior year” data when students are filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in applying to college or university.

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