Case Study

Each year, more than 13 million students apply for in excess of $70 billion in Federal student aid by completing and submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This complex, paper-based form requires considerable time to complete and a costly, labor-intensive data collection system to process. The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) wanted to create a simpler system for financial aid applicants that would also increase processing efficiency and accuracy.

FSA turned to Vangent for a solution that would allow students to apply for Federal student aid via a secure, user-friendly Web site. Vangent's System Integration capabilities allowed it to develop FAFSA on the Web. The design allows for secure transmission of data directly from the applicants' computer to FSA's Central Processing System. This Central Processing System, also designed and operated by Vangent, calculates the applicant's eligibility for Federal student aid within 72 hours. The Vangent solution increased end-user satisfaction and dramatically reduced unit costs. Electronic applications now account for more than 90 percent of all FAFSAs - subsequently decreasing FSA's processing and printing costs.

The redesigned Web site facilitates the financial aid application process by:

• Improving efficiency with a "Skip Logic" feature that presents incomplete sections of the application only if they are determined applicable based on answers to previous questions
• Enhancing customer service with easily accessible online reference tools including electronic signatures, application status updates, Federal school codes search, help text, and frequently asked questions (FAQs)
• Ensuring accuracy with features such as "Data Renewal" which allow students to revisit sections of their applications that have changed or need correcting
• Serving a larger community by developing a Spanish version of FAFSA on the Web in 2000