The Division of Training will prolong waivers for sure verification necessities on the Free Utility for Federal Pupil Support. Had the division not prolonged the waivers, greater than 100,000 college students might have been pressured to pause or depart postsecondary training, in response to an announcement launched Wednesday.
FAFSA verification, the method utilized by faculties and universities to substantiate information reported on the federal monetary support type, has been proven to disproportionately hurt low-income college students, who’ve been hit the toughest by the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Training Division says these waivers will get rid of “administrative burdens” for faculties and permit them to focus their sources on serving to extra at-risk college students get via faculty.
“Monetary support directors throughout the nation will put these waivers to good use and, as they did final 12 months, will fast-track monetary support {dollars} to college students who’re in any other case mired in bureaucratic purple tape,” mentioned Justin Draeger, president of the Nationwide Affiliation of Pupil Monetary Support Directors.
The waivers, that are momentary, had been first launched in July 2021 as an effort to curb declining enrollment in the course of the pandemic. The waivers can be prolonged into the 2022–23 FAFSA cycle.
