Declawing the FAFSA

(MoneyWatch)  Here is fabulous news for anybody who dreads filling out financial aid forms: The FAFSA is getting declawed.

For years, completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid has been a painful ordeal for millions of parents. In fact, the FAFSA is so tortuous that many families surrender any chance for federal financial aid rather than sparring with it.

But after years of empty promises about taming the this beast, the federal government has finally gotten serious. Today U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman announced several ways the government intends to simplify the 153-question FAFSA.

For starters, the government is going to modernize the online FAFSA form, which 98% of applicants use. Years ago, the government simply plastered the paper application online rather than using interactive capabilities to allow a person to skip irrelevant questions. This move alone is expected to eliminate 250 millions pointless questions a year.

Here, however, is what I consider to be the most welcome move: the government wants to stop asking us parents for financial information that the Internal Revenue Service already possesses! The plan is for parents to be able to obtain relevant tax information seamlessly from the IRS when completing the FAFSA.

Look for the friendlier FAFSA to be rolled out in January. And let me state the obvious here: The changes can't come soon enough.

Claw image by Tambako the Jaguar, CC 2.0.