850K Students Fail To Apply For College Aid

[jeffrey]

A new study says hundreds of thousands of college students who may be eligible for federal financial aid don't get it for a simple reason — they don't apply.

The study released Monday by the American Council on Education, which represents colleges and universities, says that half of the 8 million undergraduates enrolled in 1999-2000 at institutions participating in federal student aid programs did not complete the main federal aid application form.

Many were well off, and correctly assumed they wouldn't get aid. But the study found 1.7 million low- and moderate-income students also failed to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Two-thirds of community college students did not apply for aid, compared to 42% at public four-year colleges and 13% at private colleges.

The study concludes 850,000 of those students would have been eligible for a Pell Grant, the principal federal grant for low-income students... [read more at usatoday.com]