by Amanda Erickson
If you're paying attention to Congress, you've probably heard they passed a bill that tries to make college more affordable for students.
What has received less attention is a provision that will make everyone's life a little easier. Thanks to this legislation, the federal form students and parents fill out to receive college financial aid will be shortened and translated out of government-speak, so parents and students can spend less time crunching the numbers.
This component of the Higher Education Act was developed and pushed by Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.). Emanuel came up with the idea in 2001, after talking with a Chicago firefighter who explained how difficult it was to fill out the complicated and convoluted FAFSA form year after year.
Emanuel said after hearing these concerns, he went and checked the form himself.
"If you can fill this out, forget college, go to graduate school. This is the most complicated form out there, for kids just trying to go to college," he said in a statement.
The current form is 8 pages long, with 108 questions. The new one will run just 2 pages with 44 questions, and the language will be much more user-friendly.
"It's high time that parents who are trying to make sure their kids have a shot at the American dream don't have the government stepping in the way and preventing that," he said.
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