Department of Education to Launch FAFSA App in April
With the advancement of the smartphone, we can pay bills, access your bank accounts and of course, and shop through your phone. So it’s only natural that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) moves to a mobile platform as well. In April of 2018, the Department of Education plans on launching a new app so students can have a streamlined, mobile process for completing the FAFSA. It makes sense that the federal government begins targeting the college-aged demographic with apps of their own so students have more encouragement and functionality from devices they utilize to complete the required form.
Improving the Student Loan Experience
Developing the technology cost about $849,000, although additional costs will be associated with the tool’s rollout, the department said. “FSA prioritized a mobile tool partly in acknowledgment of how often college students use mobile devices over computers. The move also was made in response to feedback the department heard directly from customers about how FSA could improve the student loan experience”, A. Wayne Johnson of FSA expressed. “Whether it was a millennial all the way up to people in their 60s, they wanted to be able to deal with this not having to sign in to a computer,” he said.
Cyber Security
There are still concerns with ensuring data going through the new app is secure. In prepared remarks, Betsy Devos stated “this initiative also includes enhancing cybersecurity to protect personal data. This is a responsibility the Department has neglected for too long. We are making marked improvements because there are serious and ever-iterating threats.”
Using the App to Make Student Loan Payments
Those in charge of technological strategies moving into the future aren’t just focused on a mobile app for the FAFSA but see it as a way to begin the one-stop approach that could include making student loan payments through the app as well. The plan is by moving to a central interface, it would eliminate a student or parent that needs to log into a particular website to make a loan payment. Devos spoke again about this, “you are all well aware that Federal Student Aid — FSA — has one of the largest consumer loan portfolios in the country. As such, I fundamentally believe the services we deliver for our students should be on par with world-class financial firms, and that FSA should be the most trusted leader in the industry. To better serve our customers – students – it’s imperative that we modernize our infrastructure and revamp the way we connect with them.
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