Students at Jackson State Community College know it's that time of year again to work on the FAFSA if they want financial aid.
"It's very complicated because you have to know your parents' information and a lot of information from the IRS," says Jackson State Community College Student Tashae Steele.
At a Friday luncheon in downtown Jackson, Senator Lamar Alexander said he wants to change how complicated the process is. He held out the form and rolled the document down to the floor. "This is the form, and I'm not making this up," remarked Alexander as he got laughs from the crowd.
He, along with the National Research Council, is working on a $1 million study on the cost of regulations on higher education, and the FAFSA is just one of those things they'd like to change.
"Whether the student needs to provide parental income, the student has to answer 13 questions, so just that one first step requires that many questions, and that's just due to the regulations," says Dewana Latimer, Financial Aid Director at JSCC.
The senator said he wants to get this form down to two questions:
1. How much money a family makes
2. How many children are in the family
Latimer says many questions are just for statistical purposes and other reasons. She says she would love to have less regulation because she could spend more time with her students, but she knows it's a complicated process.
"It's very complicated because you have to know your parents' information and a lot of information from the IRS," says Jackson State Community College Student Tashae Steele.
At a Friday luncheon in downtown Jackson, Senator Lamar Alexander said he wants to change how complicated the process is. He held out the form and rolled the document down to the floor. "This is the form, and I'm not making this up," remarked Alexander as he got laughs from the crowd.
He, along with the National Research Council, is working on a $1 million study on the cost of regulations on higher education, and the FAFSA is just one of those things they'd like to change.
"Whether the student needs to provide parental income, the student has to answer 13 questions, so just that one first step requires that many questions, and that's just due to the regulations," says Dewana Latimer, Financial Aid Director at JSCC.
The senator said he wants to get this form down to two questions:
1. How much money a family makes
2. How many children are in the family
Latimer says many questions are just for statistical purposes and other reasons. She says she would love to have less regulation because she could spend more time with her students, but she knows it's a complicated process.