The college financial aid application process is beginning to make more sense for LGBTQ families!

Finally, some much needed assistance from The US Department of Education regarding the onerous college financial aid application, commonly known as the FAFSA. If college applications are looming for your family, the new FAFSA announcement will be welcome news. Beginning with the 2014-2015 form, the financial information disclosed by the parents will be based upon who lives with the child, regardless of gender, and regardless of whether the parents are legally married.

If you have college bound kids you may already realize how infuriating the financial aid process can be. For one thing, the application assumes every child has a father and a mother. It also assumes every child’s parents are married. Once again, fitting our square peg families into the round holes of the regulations was not a pleasant process. While the regulations are not out yet, the press announcement indicates they will be soon.

If you would like to follow this issue, check out Professor Nancy Polikoff’s blog here.

Carol Buell