WASHINGTON, D.C. – Simplifying the FAFSA to require only data already captured by the IRS would have little effect on state grant programs, but state grant programs still need to get more strategic about their purpose and role, a leading financial aid expert said on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
“We’ve got to get state grant programs that fit within a larger financial aid strategy for higher education and are fairly explicit about the particular goals that they’re expected to meet,” said Jane Wellman, executive director of the Delta Project on Postsecondary Costs, Productivity and Accountability.
“Most of them don’t operate with any coherent goal other than making sure that the aid goes to students who are eligible for it,” Wellman said.
While some favor need-based aid and others favor merit-based aid, Wellman said the best course is to pursue a “blended approach.”
Wellman made her remarks on Wednesday at a College Board-led discussion titled “Can Simple Be Equitable? Lessons from State Grant Programs.”
The event served as a platform for the release of an executive summary of a new College Board report by the same name.
Although a full version of the report is still in the works, thus far, the report has found that shifting the FAFSA to require only information already captured by the IRS would lead to increases or decreases of $51 or less in state grants per student. The report says many students would see decreases in grant eligibility, but with one exception, those decreases represent .5 percent of the eligible population or less.
