INDIANAPOLIS—Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, told her colleagues in the Indiana House that five years ago, she was naive about college financial aid.
When her granddaughter was applying to colleges, Leising assured her daughter to not worry about submitting a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) since she and her husband both worked. The common misconception is that if a family is above middle class, they will not qualify for aid. Leising seemed to believe this at the time.
Despite her advice, Leising’s daughter and granddaughter still submitted the FAFSA. With grants and scholarships that she discovered because of the FAFSA, Leising’s granddaughter will graduate in May debt free.
On Wednesday, the House Education Committee discussed but did not vote on Leising's Senate Bill 167, which would require all Indiana high-school seniors to submit the FAFSA starting with the 2023-2024 school year.
With three Senate Democrats signed on a co-authors and one House Democrat joining the sponsor list, it earlier passed through the Senate with a vote of 43-3. It received exclusively positive testimony in the House committee on Wednesday.
The FAFSA is an application for financial aid that gives students the chance to see the amount they are eligible for in aid as well as scholarship and grant opportunities.
According to Leising, the most recent data shows that Hoosier students have left $69 million in Pell Grant dollars “on the table." Pell Grants are federal funds given to low-income students and do not need to be paid back like loans.
A survey from INvested showed that almost 90% of students in a poll of over 1,700 saw the value of higher education, but the majority also found it difficult to pay for.
Many representatives raised concerns about how long it takes to complete the FAFSA.
“I just filled it out this weekend, and it took me 40 minutes,” said Rep. Tonya Pfaff, D-Terre Haute.
She said that if she would have had her daughter do it, the process would have taken even longer to get her information communicated properly.
Beyond the time aspect, the FAFSA also requires parents to fill out their tax information, which can be taxing—pun intended.
However, the FAFSA should soon become much simpler to fill out. According to Susan Brock Williams, the assistant to the president for state government relations at Indiana State University, the application is being reduced from 108 to 36 questions, dividing the workload by three.
This change comes after Congress signed a law into enactment just before the new year to simplify the application. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the law “removes the questions on drug convictions and Selective Service eligibility.”
Jodie Ferise, vice president and general counsel of Independent Colleges of Indiana, which supports the bill, said the goal of Indiana universities is to make college accessible for as many Hoosiers as possible.
“One big part of that is making sure that students know that it’s feasible to attend college even if your family resources are limited, and that begins with the completion of the FAFSA,” Ferise said.
Ivy Tech Community College's vice president of public affairs, Mary Michalak, also stood in support of the bill.
“Filing the FAFSA is the single most important thing students can do to get money for college and the gateway to more than $150 billion in college grants, work-study funds, federal student loans as well as certain state-based aid,” she said.
After the testimony, Leising addressed those who may have more conservative views when it comes to spending federal dollars. She said it will be money well spent.
“When we have a chance to put our hand down, let’s take advantage of it,” she said.