I am surprised that high school students are asked to fill out the FAFSA. I never expected that my son would fill his out, because I knew he would not be able to complete it given it requires information about my finances that he would not be able to provide. I guess I am out of the loop as to what is going on at high schools these days, since we returned to homeschooling during the high school years. And the FAFSA did not even exist when I headed to college (I know my parents filled out something because we were poor enough for me to qualify for a Pell Grant at that time.)
What I have read a lot in here is how some parents won’t fill out these FAFSA forms for their students, so I am all for finding a way to help these students. However, as long as the financial aid determinations are based on the parents’ income and tax returns, I am not sure what can be done short of bypassing the parents altogether. Unless we decided that all college students, regardless of income and dependent/independent status, get a certain dollar amount to use towards college.