President Obama continues his efforts to reform education and college affordability. This morning, the President joined his U.S. Education Secretary to discuss the changes the Free Application for the Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
The Obama administration announced on Sunday that students will now be able to fill out FAFSA three months earlier in October according to United Press International.
Families can also use their income from two years earlier when filling out the form, commonly referred to as the “prior-prior” year according to a White House press release.
The press release also said that Obama has called upon Congress to remove certain questions from the FAFSA regarding savings, investments, net worth, and other financial questions that can perhaps expand the number of resources that families can access to pay for college.
According to Politico, the changes announced have broad support from Congress and the expansion of the form and loans will be funneled through the annual budget process. The price attached to the changes is quite substantial and is expected to cost $400 million in the first year.
The changes will start taking effect next year on October 1.