New mobile app makes applying for FAFSA like booking an airline ticket

Every year 20 million students complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In October, the U.S. Department of Education launched myStudentAid, a new mobile application that works on smartphones and tablets to make it simpler and easier to apply for and, in the future, pay back federal aid, including completing the FAFSA.

Senate education committee chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) earlier this month told a group of high school juniors and seniors in Sevierville, Tennessee, that the first step toward college—applying for federal and state financial aid—is now “like booking an airline ticket”.

“We have apps on our phones that allow us to do anything from booking an airplane ticket to placing an Amazon order, so while it may seem very ordinary to fill out the FAFSA on an app, this is the first year its possible,” Alexander said. “Last year, about 775 high school students in Sevier County filled out the FAFSA, along with another 400,000 Tennesseans, but many others did not fill it out,” the senator added.

Alexander says the launch of Tennessee Promise five years ago and Tennessee Reconnect this past fall means more FAFSA applicants in Tennessee. “Because of the state`s free tuition program for two years of college, a higher percentage of Tennessee families answer the 108 questions on the FAFSA form than in almost any other state,” he said.

The myStudentAid app is available for free download in the Apple App Store and Google Play.