Dept. of Ed. plans to facilitate aid process

In a press release issued by the Department of Education Sept. 26, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced her plans to improve higher education. She based her plans on the Commission on the Future of Higher Education’s final report.

According to the press release, the commission is a group Spellings created in September 2005 to evaluate the state of the nation’s post-secondary education. Over the past year, the commission held public meetings and hearings across the country to better assess the situation.

Based on the commission’s findings, Spellings said in the press release that she plans to make college education more affordable, as well as make information more accessible.

“We know higher education is the key to our children’s future and the American dream, yet it is becoming more unaffordable and less attainable,” Spellings said in the press release.

Julia Rice Mallette, associate vice provost and director of scholarships and financial aid, said until the University sees what is requested of the schools, no speculations can be made about how much things will change.

“I think it’s premature to comment on how individual schools will be affected,” she said.

According to the press release, Spellings plans to make college education more affordable by controlling soaring costs, simplifying the financial aid process and increasing the amount of need-based aid available.

The Department of Education plans to significantly shorten the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and inform students of their aid awards earlier in their senior year of high school, according to the same press release. This would give families more time to plan for the financial strain of sending a child to college.

“I hope [the changes] make it easier for the average student to pay for college so they don’t have to settle for a college they don’t necessarily want to attend, simply because of price,” Cory McIntosh, a freshman in engineering, said. “Being an out-of-state student, affordability is very important to me, so I support anything the government can do to make paying for college easier on my family and me.”