Editorial: MTV should redirect pro-student energies

By definition, formalities are dull, time-devouring and unpleasant. Have you ever seen someone… By definition, formalities are dull, time-devouring and unpleasant. Have you ever seen someone bubble with excitement at the thought of attending jury duty or completing general education requirements? We certainly haven’t. Neither have we seen anyone elated when faced with the infamous queen of formal annoyances: filling out monotonous forms.

One such form that many of us have mulled over is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Even though the federal financial aid form has already seen radical simplification and shortening, it still takes time to fill out and consists of multiple parts. But that doesn’t mean expensive campaigns at further simplifying the form are worth the effort.

Given its recent FAFSA-simplification campaign, MTV Networks would probably disagree. Working with the College Board, MTV is holding an open contest for the most innovative way to simplify the FAFSA application using technology — like creating a video game, for example.

As part of the “College Affordability Challenge,” the company is offering a $10,000 prize for the winning individual or team, and the winners may work with a professional design firm to develop their ideas with an operating budget of $100,000. MTV thinks that the complicated FAFSA form may dissuade first-generation college applicants or those with a language barrier.

The Pitt News applauds MTV’s clear concern for issues in education, but we question whether the FAFSA contest addresses a real problem.

For one, there’s little proof that the current FAFSA form can skew the number of people applying for federal financial aid, let alone dissuade anyone from applying to college in general. Citing studies from the College Board, the Affordability Challenge website says that “upwards of two million college students don’t apply for financial aid that is available to them each year, and that almost two-thirds of students surveyed find the process of applying for financial aid difficult and time consuming.” But don’t count this as empirical support.

For anyone who understands the difference between correlation and causation, these observations don’t add up to anything meaningful. Those two million could have other means to pay or not even know about financial aid, and even if filling in blanks or clicking through electronic pages are a pain, it doesn’t mean that people would actually forgo college before completing a form.

The FAFSA form has already been reformed for greater usability. In fact, a fourth of the questions were cut last year and the online version went from 30 screens to 10. And FAFSA’s online instant messenger help desk and its 1-800 number’s voice-activated menu make applying for aid as easy as it gets.

Surely, the ability of an individual to complete a federal form should have no bearing on his potential as a college applicant, and considering the unholy cost of today’s tuition, financial aid should be readily available. But realistically, knowing how to tackle forms like FAFSA is a modern-day survival skill — you can’t sign an apartment lease, buy a car or get a job without exercising paperwork skills.

At this stage, splashing colors on the FAFSA screen or drawing aid-applicants through an MTV-produced video game experience wouldn’t help alleviate application difficulties for the disadvantaged, if indeed those difficulties exist. If MTV really wants to make a difference, the company should sponsor financial aid workshops at individual high schools. And we’re sure many worthy scholarship funds are just itching for a $110,000 donation.