Changes Murray passed into law to help over 14k new students in WA receive Pell Grants and over 23k more students receive the maximum Pell Grant
Murray: “You can really sum up what this means for students in four simple words: less paperwork, more help.”
***WATCH: Senator Murray discusses what reforms will mean for WA students***
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), hosted a virtual press conference to discuss how the new, streamlined, and simplified Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form resulting from financial aid reforms she negotiated is going live by the end-of-the-year—and will mean fewer headaches over paperwork and more aid reaching more students in Washington state.
Last week, the Department of Education announced that the new, simplified FAFSA form will be available to students and families by the end of the year and the reforms Senator Murray negotiated will take effect. Nationwide, the changes will help 610,000 more students from low-income backgrounds receive Pell Grants and 1.5 million more students access the maximum Pell Grant—including 14,797 new students in Washington state set to receive Pell Grants and 23,731 more set to receive the maximum Pell Grant.
“For years, a complicated, and cumbersome financial aid process has turned what should be a first step on the path to a higher education into the first stumbling block for too many students,” said Senator Murray. “That’s why I’m proud to have led the negotiations to pass into law the FAFSA Simplification Act which simplifies the FAFSA form significantly, and expands eligibility so that many more students get more aid.”
“These are some straightforward changes, but they are going to make a huge difference for students. They will mean fewer headaches over paperwork and more aid reaching more people,” Senator Murray said. “With the new FAFSA, a student who started their application when this call began, could even be done before it’s over! In some cases, applicants will go from having to answer over a hundred possible questions, to fewer than twenty.”
“And thanks to the improved calculations, six hundred thousand students will be newly eligible for Pell Grants, and one and a half million more students will be eligible for the maximum Pell award,” continued Senator Murray. “I’m going to keep fighting to finish doubling the Pell Grant, deliver debt relief for students, establish tuition-free community college, make the student loan system work better, and much more. But this overhaul is the most significant in decades.”
Senator Murray was joined by Becky Thompson, Director of Student Financial Assistance at the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) to talk about the new relief and changes coming.
“Simplifying the FAFSA is a critical strategy to addressing post-secondary access in Washington. Nationally, students who complete a financial aid application are 84% more likely to enroll in postsecondary education and that rate is even higher for students from lower-income families,” said Thompson. “And yet we know that historically FAFSA completion has been a very high barrier for many families for far too long. The new and simplified FAFSA is a real opportunity. It isn’t just a simplified form, it will mean more access to more financial aid for many more students.”
As the top Democrat on the Senate HELP Committee in 2020, Senator Murray successfully negotiated—and got signed into law—bipartisan legislation to reform the financial aid application process, simplify the FAFSA form for students and parents, and significantly expand eligibility for federal aid.
The bipartisan FAFSA Simplification Act that Senator Murray negotiated was signed into law in December 2020. In particular, Senator Murray secured policies that, among other things:
- Restore Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated individuals, students who have been defrauded, and students with drug-related offenses;
- Significantly expand who is eligible to receive Pell Grants and the maximum award; simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA);
- Make the financial aid process easier to navigate for students experiencing homelessness and students formerly in foster care.
Learn more about the changes Senator Murray secured HERE.
Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered, are below:
“Thank you all for joining this call about something very personal to me.
“My siblings and I were all able to go to college thanks to federal student aid programs.
“Seven kids, from a family that was struggling to make ends meet—but every one of us was able to afford college, and every one of us has been able to give back to our communities in a big way because our country invested in us.
“And I want to make sure kids today have that same opportunity we did to pursue a higher education.
“Today, one of the first steps many kids take to make that dream a reality is filling out the FAFSA.
“Now, there is no reason for that to be a huge headache.
“But for years, a complicated, and cumbersome financial aid process has turned what should be a first step on the path to a higher education into the first stumbling block for too many students.
“Unfortunately, this has been especially clear in Washington state where FAFSA completion rates are well below the national average. Less than half of our seniors have completed the FAFSA in recent years!
“That’s a big red flag for our student aid system.
“It’s not just that our FAFSA process is working poorly—it’s practically missing the whole point!
“The FAFSA must be a tool that expands access to higher education, not a barrier that prevents qualified students from getting the financial aid they need to go to college.
“We have to be opening the doors to higher education as wide as we can.
“That’s why I’m proud to have led the negotiations to pass into law the FAFSA Simplification Act which simplifies the FAFSA form significantly, and expands eligibility so that many more students get more aid.
“While I wish it could have been rolled out sooner, I am really glad the reforms I fought to secure are getting implemented—and I am going to be watching closely to make sure this goes smoothly, and we are making life better for students.
“Some of the changes I fought hard to get done have already taken effect for this current cycle—including restoring Pell Grant eligibility for students who are incarcerated, who have been defrauded by colleges, and who have drug-related offenses.
“I’m glad these students are able to access aid and begin and continue their education.
“And now, the rest of the reforms I negotiated are starting to take effect too.
“The new, simple, streamlined FASFA will be available by the end of the year.
“This is a big step forward.
“In addition to simplifying the process, it will also update the financial aid formula to link family size and the federal poverty level.
“As someone who came from a big family that hit hard times, that was especially important to me!
“These are some straightforward changes, but they are going to make a huge difference for students.
“They will mean fewer headaches over paperwork and more aid reaching more people.
“With the new FAFSA, a student who started their application when this call began, could even be done before it’s over!
“In some cases, applicants will go from having to answer over a hundred possible questions, to fewer than twenty.
“Someone experiencing homelessness—which is about three hundred thousand students—will be able to complete the form even if they can’t get information from their parents.
“And thanks to the improved calculations, six hundred thousand students will be newly eligible for Pell Grants, and one and a half million more students will be eligible for the maximum Pell award.
“In Washington state, that is going to mean: nearly fifteen thousand new students now eligible for Pell Grants and nearly twenty-four thousand more students who can get the maximum amount.
“Now, we have a lot of work left ahead to make higher education truly accessible, affordable, and equitable.
“I’m going to keep fighting to finish doubling the Pell Grant, deliver debt relief for students, establish tuition-free community college, make the student loan system work better, and much more.
“But this overhaul is the most significant in decades.
“And it happened because I was able to sit down with my then counterpart, Republican Senator Lamar Alexander, to understand where we both agreed we could make straightforward, but important, changes in policy to make a real difference for students and families applying for aid.
“Now, keeping with the spirit of simplifying FASFA, you can really sum up what this means for students in four simple words: Less paperwork, more help.
“That’s it.
“But I know you all want more details on this too, and I’m excited to have an expert here who can shed even more light on these changes, and how they are going to make life easier for students.
“So I’ll go ahead now and turn it over to Becky Thompson, the Director of Student Financial Assistance at the Washington Student Achievement Council.”
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