Student aid goes begging for applicants

By Justin Pope
Associated Press

A new study says hundreds of thousands of college students who may be eligible for federal financial aid don't get it for a simple reason — they don't apply.

The study, released Monday by the American Council on Education, which represents colleges and universities, says that half of the 16 million undergraduates enrolled in 1999-2000 at institutions participating in federal student aid programs did not complete the main federal aid application form.

Many were well off, and correctly assumed they wouldn't get aid. But the study found 1.7 million low- and moderate-income students also failed to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Two-thirds of community college students did not apply for aid, compared to 42 percent at public four-year colleges and 13 percent at private colleges.

The study concludes 850,000 of those students would have been eligible for a Pell Grant, the principal federal grant for low-income students.

The findings underscore a point often made by educators: Even as college costs rise, students often miss financial aid opportunities because they aren't aware of how the system works.

"It's frustrating when you know someone could be eligible and they just don't do it for various reasons," said Tammy Capps, financial aid director at Shawnee Community College in Ullin, Ill., where about 900 of the 2,500 students receive Pell Grants. She said complexity of the form is often a reason students don't apply.

"We'll even help them fill it out," she said. "But we have to talk to them face to face to give that information and that doesn't always happen. They don't think to call and ask."

Few students with more than $40,000 in family income get Pell grants, said Jacqueline Smith, director of ACE's Center for Policy analysis. But they can get other federal aid like subsidized student loans. And FAFSA forms often are the first step in applying for other types of aid, such as support from states or their schools.

The study acknowledges some poorer students might skip the FAFSA forms because they line up adequate financing elsewhere. But Smith said many would have ended up with more aid if they had filled out the form.

"Everybody assumes the money is for someone else," said Smith, who reported that focus groups her organization has conducted reveal wide misconceptions about financial aid. "We talked to middle-class parents who said the money's only available if you're really poor, and poor parents said you had to have a perfect SAT score."

The government has worked to simplify the FAFSA form, but it still runs four pages and several worksheets, and Smith said complexity is likely an issue in some cases.

Department of Education spokeswoman Susan Aspey said officials hadn't had the chance to read the full report, but noted that the department launched a public relations campaign last year to increase awareness of federal financial aid.

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