Two recent moves by the government with respect to college students deserve attention.
First, the FAFSA filing for the period which began January 1, 2016 (to trigger aid for the 2016-17 academic year) can be done using the 2014 income tax filing, with documented adjustments if necessary because of important changes in income. This means you can file sooner than before and consequently federal decisions on dollar amounts can be made quicker. Both are important to students planning their college budgets and can even affect the selection of a school.
Note that there is a procedural step involved. A FSA ID (with a user name and password) must be created to replace the PIN previously used to log into the Department of Education FAFSA website.
Go to StudentAid.gov/fsaid.
Connected to the above information are three recent significant blog posts from http://Blog.ed.gov, which is the key website for education matters at the federal level.
(1) “7 Things you need before you fill out the FAFSA” (the new FSA ID , social security number, driver’s license if relevant, income tax return data, untaxed income, assets, colleges interested in).
(2) “7 Steps to filling out the FAFSA.”
(3) “11 Common FAFSA Mistakes.” Not filling it out completely and not filing as soon as possible are two of the major ones.
Second, students may be aware of different federal programs which are relevant to the repayment of student loans: PLSF, PAYE, and IBR. Typically these apply to recent borrowers. However, the newest entry in this area, REPAYE (Revised Pay as you Earn), is available to all borrowers, with no limits on debt level or income. Details do vary, based on undergraduate versus graduate loans and single versus married borrowers. Log in to studentloans.gov; the student can analyze each repayment program in the context of his own debt situation.
Yes, it has occurred to a few people that consolidating these repayment programs into a single set of rules would be helpful to all concerned. (Equally beneficial would be a cut in tuition levels, but that issue belongs in a different essay.)