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Simplifying Tax Incentives and Aid for College: Progress and Prospects

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  • Susan Dynarski
  • Judith Scott-Clayton
  • Mark Wiederspan

Abstract

The application for federal student aid is longer than the tax returns filled out by the majority of US households. Research suggests that complexity in the aid process undermines its effectiveness in inducing more students into college. A previous Tax Policy and the Economy paper showed that most of the data items in the aid application did not affect the distribution of aid and that the much shorter set of variables available in IRS data could be used to closely replicate the existing distribution of aid. This added momentum to a period of discussion and activity around simplification in Congress and the US Department of Education. In this article, we provide a 5-year retrospective of what has changed in the aid application process, what has not, and the possibilities for future reform. While there has been some streamlining in the process of applying for aid, it has fallen far short of its goals. Two dozen questions were removed from the aid application and a dozen added, reducing the number of questions from 127 to 116. Funding for college has also been complicated by the growth of a parallel system for aid: the tax system. A massive expansion in federal tax incentives for college, in particular the American Opportunity Tax Credit, has led to millions of households completing paperwork for both the IRS and the US Department of Education in order to qualify for college funding.

Suggested Citation

  • Susan Dynarski & Judith Scott-Clayton & Mark Wiederspan, 2013. "Simplifying Tax Incentives and Aid for College: Progress and Prospects," Tax Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(1), pages 161-202.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:tpolec:doi:10.1086/671247
    DOI: 10.1086/671247
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    Cited by:

    1. Celeste K. Carruthers & Christopher Jepsen, 2020. "Vocational Education: An International Perspective," CESifo Working Paper Series 8718, CESifo.
    2. Gurantz, Oded & Tsai, Yung-Yu, 2023. "The impact of federal administrative burdens on college enrollment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    3. Christine Neill, 2013. "What You Don't Know Can't Help You: Lessons of Behavioural Economics for Tax-Based Student Aid," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 393, November.
    4. Celeste K. Carruthers & Jilleah G. Welch, 2015. "Not Whether, but Where? Pell Grants and College Choices," Working Papers 2015-04, University of Tennessee, Department of Economics, revised 28 Sep 2015.
    5. Lindsay C. Page & Judith Scott-Clayton, 2015. "Improving College Access in the United States: Barriers and Policy Responses," NBER Working Papers 21781, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Carruthers, Celeste K. & Fox, William F., 2016. "Aid for all: College coaching, financial aid, and post-secondary persistence in Tennessee," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 97-112.
    7. Nikki Edgecombe & Elise Swanson & Thomas Brock & Maria Cormier & Christopher Avery & Carmen Huynh, 2024. "Financing Community Colleges: Current Landscape and Future Directions," NBER Chapters, in: Financing Institutions of Higher Education, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Dayanand S. Manoli & Nicholas Turner, 2014. "Cash-on-Hand & College Enrollment: Evidence from Population Tax Data and Policy Nonlinearities," NBER Working Papers 19836, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Hastings, Justine S. & Neilson, Christopher A. & Ramirez, Anely & Zimmerman, Seth D., 2016. "(Un)informed college and major choice: Evidence from linked survey and administrative data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 136-151.
    10. Casey B. Mulligan, 2013. "Recent Marginal Labor Income Tax Rate Changes by Skill and Marital Status," Tax Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(1), pages 69-100.
    11. Page, Lindsay C. & Scott-Clayton, Judith, 2016. "Improving college access in the United States: Barriers and policy responses," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 4-22.
    12. Carruthers, Celeste K. & Welch, Jilleah G., 2019. "Not whether, but where? Pell grants and college choices," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1-19.
    13. Jabbari, Jason & Roll, Stephen & Bufe, Sam & McKay, Jessica, 2022. "“Take my word for it”: Group Texts and Testimonials Enhance State and Federal Student Aid Applications," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    14. Susan Dynarski & Judith Scott-Clayton, 2016. "Tax Benefits for College Attendance," NBER Working Papers 22127, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Eric Bettinger & Oded Gurantz & Monica Lee & Bridget Terry Long, 2023. "“Prior-Prior Year” FAFSA Increased Aid Submissions but Likely not Enrollment," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 64(6), pages 789-807, September.
    16. Kelli Bird & Benjamin L. Castleman, 2016. "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? Investigating Rates and Patterns of Financial Aid Renewal Among College Freshmen," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 57(4), pages 395-422, June.
    17. Bruce, Donald J. & Carruthers, Celeste K., 2014. "Jackpot? The impact of lottery scholarships on enrollment in Tennessee," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 30-44.

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    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid

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