Editorial: FAFSA forms should accommodate students with same-sex parents

Securing financial aid is convoluted enough for those of us with married, heterosexual parents…. Securing financial aid is convoluted enough for those of us with married, heterosexual parents. For the children of same-sex couples, however, the process reaches a whole new dimension of difficulty — even if the results are often more than satisfactory.

As The New York Times reported last Friday, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, doesn’t allow applicants to acknowledge they have same-sex parents. Consequently, these students cannot accurately portray the state of their family’s finances and might therefore receive inappropriate amounts of money.

Unfortunately, this is no simple fluke: Under the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal government is forbidden from recognizing anything besides heterosexual marriage. Because FAFSA is a federally issued document, it must abide by this law. As it stands, the Department of Education requires applicants in this situation to fill out the form as if their parents were divorced and choose the caregiver that provides the most support — a process that typically results in an overstatement of the needed aid.

Of course, many would argue that because the Obama administration ceased defending DOMA in February, this is a non-issue. After all, suing the Department of Education over FAFSA’s adherence to the law should, in theory, result in an automatic victory and a suitable aid package.

We don’t think, however, that children of same-sex couples should have to undergo this ordeal while the children of heterosexual couples need only fill out the document. Regardless of whether DOMA is still judicially enforced, there remains a double standard in how different parental circumstances are handled.

FAFSA’s problems, of course, aren’t limited to its neglect of same-sex households — messy divorces, as well, are difficult to represent on the form — but at the very least, we hope readers will recognize this as one more reason to repeal DOMA, an antiquated and discriminatory law.

Until then, we urge those with same-sex parents to read a post on The New York Times’ “Bucks” blog detailing how they should represent their situation on the FAFSA. The procedures it outlines are complicated, but worthy of consideration.

Financial aid is a constant concern for college students, whether or not they’re the children of heterosexual parents. It’s altogether vital, then, that the paperwork needed to facilitate its acquisition accommodates all possible situations. Otherwise, the government risks undermining one of its most invaluable and celebrated services.