Federal Aid Must Amend its Outdated Belief that Blocks Students from College

In today's world, if a student plans on going to college, they have most likely heard of FAFSA.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is supposed to be a tool to help students afford college.

Even for families who cannot afford to otherwise put their students through school, through the FAFSA form there are options such as, the Pell Grant which you generally do not have to pay back at all, that they can access. 

FAFSA has opened many doorways for students of low-income families. 

This help can all come to a frustrating standstill if the parents refuse to contribute their tax information for the form, which many are. 

Parents refusing to contribute their information on the FAFSA takes away so many options for students wanting to go to college, but it is not considered enough for schools to grant a dependency override.

Dependency overrides are a form the student can submit to the school to appeal for FAFSA aid without their parents' information.

Unless a student is one of the 2% that meets the criteria to have a dependency review accepted, they will not be allowed aid from FAFSA.

The student is, of course, free to apply for an unsubsidized loan, a loan that begins accruing interest from day one, and must be paid back.

Which is different than subsidized loans, which the government pays the interest for you. 

When you compare subsidized loans and the Pell Grant, the unsubsidized loan is the worst option.

Which can be incredibly frustrating for a student who would have access to those options, if not for their parents simply refusing to contribute their tax information. 

The reason for this stipulation, is that the Federal government believes it is the parents' job to pay for the students' higher education.

Even if the student does not live with the parent, provides entirely their own financial support, and are not filed as a dependent on the parents' tax forms, they are subject to this outdated way of thinking.  

Parents refuse the FAFSA for many reasons.

Many refuse because they believe myths such as the ones proposed by U.S.N.; Parents believing that by filing the FAFSA, they are paying for something; believing that their income is too high; or just believing that the child is independent enough and should handle their own college.

When parents are stubborn, this can create a strained relationship which makes it even less likely for the student to get help from their parents.

Sure, the student can possibly file for abandonment if their parent hasn’t spoken to them in at least a year.

However, that means we are putting the decision between reconciling with parents and the students' best chance at going to college in front of them.  

The Federal Governments expectations of families, means that there are not enough decent options for students who want to go to college, and are independent from their parents but are unable to get aid. 

Too many students end up with the option of taking out bigger loans than they may have needed to take out, or just missing out on college until twenty-four, because of the simple outdated idea that the parents are going to take care of it. 

For the sake of many passionate students who wish to further their education, this outdated belief needs to be amended into something that provides these students a better chance at quality aid.