Education and Class

• The Magic Trick That Could Shorten The FAFSA : NPR Ed : NPR

  Part 2 of the NPR report on simplifying the FAFSA:

  “Here’s the strange part: The Education Department already has the authority to start using prior-prior. So, why hasn’t it?

  One big reason: Money.

  The department says switching to prior-prior would come with a lot of costs. For one thing, using older income would make students seem a little needier.

  It would also increase the number of students who complete the FAFSA and thereby increase the amount of aid given.

  And these costs, the department says, would ultimately have to be approved by Congress.

  Translation: One reason Washington’s not yet using prior-prior, is because it would work.”

  tags: socialclass

• Rising price of Virginia public universities disproportionately hurts low-income students @insidehighered

  An important, detailed study of how poor students fared during times of budget cuts and rising tuition in Virginia.

  “Further, the study found, since 2007 the state had made no progress in improving the socioeconomic diversity of its four-year institutions; the large gap in enrollment between poor and wealthy students has remained virtually unchanged.
  Students from low-income families who attend four-year universities were less likely “to remain enrolled, persist through and graduate from those institutions,” compared to students from more affluent families. “

  tags: socialclass

• Shrink The FAFSA? Good Luck With That : NPR Ed : NPR

  Years of deliberation over making the FAFSA more manageable, and still no solutions in sight.

  Many of the comments on this piece are very discouraging in their assumptions that anyone having problems with a cumbersome federal form doesn’t deserve to go to college.

  “The challenge is a real Catch-22: The FAFSA, in its current form, is prohibitively complicated for some students. But shortening it could lead to students having to fill out multiple forms, which would also be prohibitively complicated for some.”

  tags: socialclass

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.