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Does simplifying the college financial aid process matter?

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  • Narayan, Ayushi

Abstract

The IRS Data Retrieval Tool, a financial aid simplification tool accessed by 7 million students (nearly 40% of FAFSA filers) a year, was suddenly removed during the middle of the 2017 application cycle. Exploiting variation in 1,600 institutional deadlines influencing the amount of time students lacked access to the tool, I find a null effect of its paperwork reduction properties on college access outcomes. Form simplification alone seems unlikely to have the same beneficial impacts as personal assistance in the college financial aid setting, calling into question the notion that small hassle costs by themselves meaningfully deter program take-up.

Suggested Citation

  • Narayan, Ayushi, 2020. "Does simplifying the college financial aid process matter?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:75:y:2020:i:c:s027277571930531x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.101959
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Educational economics; Student financial aid;

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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