The movement to simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid is trending.
Well, maybe not literally — although Bill Gates himself did take to Twitter last month to spread the message to his 24.4 million followers.
The tweet linked to a New York Times editorial advocating changes in the "torturous and perplexing" form, bestowing some unusual national prominence on an issue that has until now been seen mostly as one of those in-the-weeds topics that occupy only policy wonks.
But simplifying the Fafsa isn’t as simple as it might sound. Many approaches have been discussed over the years, some of which would require congressional action or expanded collaboration between the Education Department and the Internal Revenue Service. And while the idea of requiring less information sounds appealing, doing so could also make it harder to discern which students really should receive financial aid, and how much.
Read more at The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/article/Everyone-s-Talking-About/232899