As the majority of college students depend on financial aid for enrollment support, the US Ed Dept. will temporarily relax certain administrative requirements this year. The primary purpose of which is to avoid delays in the release of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in connection with financial aid information being offered to graduating high school students.

The rollback of administrative requirements though is temporary. Actually, the freshly updated FAFSA form became available online 3 months later than the usual date of release. The delay in the release of the new FAFSA form therefore created more time constraints on the part of educational institutions in charge of processing and reviewing the financial aid applications for the incoming school year.

The Education Department therefore decided to suspend some of the required program reviews, since the reviewing institutions will receive FAFSA data from the department only in March of this year.

In line with the pronouncements, the US Department of Education explained that the new FAFSA form has been simplified to reduce the more than 100 questions that students and their families need to answer, down to only several dozens. That way, it will be easier for colleges and universities to process the student records in relation to their FAFSA application. The modifications will also allow for the timely issuance of financial aid offers despite the shortened time period of the current cycle.

According to Mr. Miguel Cardona, the present U.S. Education Department Secretary:

”The steps we are currently taking are all in direct response to the inputs contributed by college and university presidents and financial aid administrators on what they encounter as challenges in the processing and review of FAFSA applications.” ”That way, the department can implement better paths and take concrete steps that can make the processing of information more simple and easier for the financial aid administrators.”