January 6, 2000          Mr. Patrick Sherrill Department of Education 600 Independence Avenue, S.W.  Room 5624, ROB-3 Washington, D.C.  20202       Dear Mr. Sherrill:    The Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance is pleased to respond as required by  section 491 of the Higher Education Act, on the 2001-2002 Free Application for Federal Student  Aid (FAFSA).  The Committee recognizes the Department of Education's (ED) efforts to reduce  burden and improve the delivery of student financial aid by clarifying questions and instructions  on the form.  In addition, we commend ED for continuing to accommodate the needs of states and  institutions in its form redesign.  Nevertheless, while ED is clearly committed to its goal of streamlining  and simplifying the application process, the Committee believes that other opportunities to lower burden  and increase efficiency remain, including designing the FAFSA to gather key data, increasing the use  of FAFSA on the Web, and field testing the form to ensure timely delivery of the 2001-2002 FAFSA  to institutions.  The FAFSA should constantly be improved to capture key and accurate information.  We are  pleased that ED has taken several steps to increase the form's effectiveness including, separating  out the untaxed income items on the worksheets to increase the accuracy of reporting and adding  an additional code to the grade level question to differentiate first-year graduate/professional students  from continuing graduate/professional students.  We also suggest that ED reinsert the simple needs  test on the form in accordance with statute.  We urge ED to continue to seek ways to improve the form  and address any problems with the simple needs test in technical amendments for next year.   FAFSA on the Web holds the greatest potential for offering a seamless process and reducing  burden for students and parents. While electronic processing has increased in 1999-00, web-based  application--that is, FAFSA on the Web and Renewal Web, still remains at less than one million or  about 10 percent of total application volume.  Although ED has strengthened FAFSA on the Web  for award year 2000-2001 by introducing a 24-hour on-line application status check, enabling users  to verify the status of their application and implementing a new electronic signature process, it must still  continue to find ways to increase its use.  Therefore, we urge ED to continue to improve its web-based  product including implementing an interactive student aid application, which would tailor the questions to  the individual student in a particular state, thereby reducing the number of questions the student would  have to complete.  We also suggest that ED continue to promote its web-based product to high school  counselors and other organizations that have frequent contact with high school seniors and college students.   We understand that ED plans to distribute FAFSA on the Web Tool Kits, which include brochures,  a CD-ROM tutorial and a FAFSA on the Web prototype to high schools, postsecondary schools, state  agencies, libraries, Parent Teacher Associations and TRIO centers in November 2000.  These efforts will  generate cost savings for the government while helping ED reach its goal of increasing the number of FAFSAs  filed electronically from three million to four million in FY 2000.  Finally, in keeping with ED's commitment to customer service, the 2001-2002 FAFSA must be field tested and  delivered to institutions in a timely manner.  Last year, 2000-2001 FAFSAs were shipped to schools, agencies  and libraries containing errors with regard to IRS form 1040 references.  These errors caused institutions to  delay programs for parents and prospective students (i.e., financial aid nights) and agency outreach efforts  to needy students and families.  Therefore, we strongly recommend that ED field test the form and carefully  review the draft 2001-2002 FAFSA prior to printing and distribution to minimize burden on students, families  and institutions.  As always, the Advisory Committee members and staff appreciate the opportunity to submit our recommendations.   If we can be further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact the staff.                               Sincerely,      		/s/                                                                        Juliet V. Garcia                          Chairperson      cc:       Advisory Committee members             The Honorable Richard W. Riley             The Honorable Marshall S. Smith             Ms. Maureen A. McLaughlin             Mr. Greg Woods             Ms. Jeanne Van Vlandren             Committee on Education and the Workforce             Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions