Fix the college aid process for U.S. citizen children of immigrants

As summer comes to a close, college campuses will open their doors and welcome the class of 2020.

But long before these eager college students enroll in their first course, their families have crunched the numbers on how they will pay for their child’s education.

For many families in Texas, the cost of sending a child to school is one of the most significant financial burdens they face.

That is why many families complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to be eligible for federal funding in the form of grants and loans.

Unfortunately, for some of our nation’s students that funding is not easily accessible, which prevents them from joining their peers in the halls of higher education.

Current Department of Education policies for the FAFSA do not bar the children of parents without legal status from obtaining federal aid. However, these students face additional steps to complete the application.

If a parent does not have a Social Security number, U.S. citizen students are forced to endure a tedious process that includes printing out forms and mailing them in, steps others do not have to take. This also increases the time required before their application is processed.

The Department of Education reports that during the 2013-2014 FAFSA application cycle, 21.2 million students applied for federal aid nationally and 1.7 million were from Texas.

But of the Texans who applied, 42,833 were rejected, accounting for almost 9 percent of national rejections.

The most significant factor among those rejections was that many students failed to print and mail the necessary signature page that is required when the applicant’s parents are noncitizens.

Of the 10,028 Texas applications submitted with signature pages, only 3,012 applications had both the parent and student signature page.

Our program for federal aid should be easy to understand and user friendly.

I am continuing my efforts to streamline the FAFSA application process by introducing the Fairness in Financial Aid Act.

This act would amend the tax code to allow Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) to be used in lieu of Social Security numbers.

Accepting the ITIN would provide all children, no matter their parents’ immigration status, an opportunity to achieve their higher education dreams and to access the financial resources they’re eligible for as U.S. citizens.

In September 2015, the Obama Administration made great strides to improve and simplify the financial aid process for students.

However, that streamlining did not simplify the process for students with noncitizen parents.

I commend the Obama Administration on its efforts, but there is much more to be done.

Children should not face additional burdens to achieve their dreams because of their financial or family background.

It is time to ensure that no child falls through the cracks of our education system.

This story was originally published August 19, 2016 at 6:23 PM with the headline "Fix the college aid process for U.S. citizen children of immigrants."