See Press Release Below:
FAFSA4caster Gives
High School Juniors A Leg
Up On Financial Aid Planning
FOR RELEASE:March 21, 2007
Contact: Katherine McLane, Samara Yudof (202) 401-1576
U.S. Secretary of Education
Margaret Spellings today unveiled a new online tool to help students and
families financially prepare and plan for college before a student's senior
year of high school. Called the FAFSA4caster, it provides students with an
early estimate of their eligibility for federal financial aid, which could
include a Pell grant of up to $4,310.
"Improving college
access and affordability are key to giving more Americans a chance at higher
education and keeping America
competitive," said Secretary Spellings. "Families need more
information—sooner—about students' federal aid eligibility so that they can
plan ahead for college. The FAFSA4caster gives families an important tool they
can use to make decisions about the future." The FAFSA4caster will
·
Instantly
calculate a student's eligibility for federal student aid, including grants,
·
Reduce the time
it will take to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
and
·
Simplify the
financial aid process for students and families.
Last September, Secretary
Spellings announced her plans to improve the U.S. higher education system, based
on the recommendations in the final report of her Commission on the Future of
Higher Education. Today's announcement puts in place one of the Secretary's
action steps—to notify students of their aid eligibility earlier than spring of
their senior year.
In addition to helping
families make informed decisions as they plan for college, the FAFSA4caster
will also reduce the application time when students file their FAFSA in their
senior year in high school. The FAFSA4caster pre-populates 51 of the 102
questions on the FAFSA, significantly reducing the time it takes for the
student to complete the FAFSA in their senior year of high school.
The FAFSA4caster will be
available on April 1 at www.federalstudentaid.ed.gov.
It will be available in Spanish on April 29. In September, the Department will
release the next version of the FAFSA4caster, which will estimate a student's
federal entire aid package, including eligibility for federal student loans.
Need-based aid is one of the
topics that will be discussed during Secretary Spellings' Higher Education
Summit, "A Test of Leadership—Committing to Advance Post-Secondary
Education for all Americans," on Thursday, March 22 in Washington, D.C. The
summit will focus on action items around five recommendations from the
Commission's report that will make an impact on improving college access,
affordability and accountability in America's higher education system,
including aligning K-12 and higher education expectations; increasing
need-based aid for access and success; using accreditation to support and
emphasize student learning outcomes; serving adults and other non-traditional
students; and enhancing affordability, decreasing costs, and promoting productivity.
Additional information about
the FAFSA4caster is available now at www.federalstudentaid.ed.gov.
For more information on the Secretary's Commission on the Future of Higher
Education, please visit http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/plan/index.html.
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