Education and Class

The title caught my eye: “An Education Strategy to Promote Opportunity, Prosperity, and Growth , a new report from the Brookings Institute. Then on p. 16, my eyes popped open as I read two remarkably simple suggestions for simplifying financial aid for low-income students.

The problem, the report explains, is that young people who cannot possibly afford college without financial aid don’t find out how much aid they’re eligible for until late in their Senior year of high school.

And they find out then only after filling out long and cumbersome forms.

The Brookings people suggest two simple steps:

• Provide all high school kids with a post card size table from which they could calculate their eligibility for financial aid.
• Allow parents to apply for financial aid merely by checking a box on their income tax forms.

Why not do these things?