Ed Board hopes that everyone has turned in their FAFSA, because if you haven’t, then it’s too late.
Yes, the deadline to apply for federal student aid was yesterday.
The end of the spring semester always brings around this delightful application, which Ed Board members look forward to filling out with glee.
Is the sarcasm tangible?
We sure hope so, because filling out that form is about the most unpleasant thing we can think of. It’s even worse than finals.
In addition to its convoluted phraseology and excessive demands for useless information, it also requires days to fill out.
Yes, that’s right, days. This is because signing the FAFSA requires you to use a special PIN number assigned to you by the US Department of Education.
The PIN number takes at least one to three days to arrive, and may take as long as ten if you opt for the snail mail version.
Now, Ed Board is confused as to the necessity for this PIN. Many other secure electronic transactions simply require you to type your name in a box as a signature.
But apparently that’s not good enough for the government.
It gets worse. The FAFSA website states, “Beginning December 26, 2004, all new and current ED PIN holders are required to “activate” their ED PIN for added security against identity theft. The ED PIN must be activated prior to use even if you have used your PIN in the past.”
Now, Ed Board worries about identity theft, but is someone really going to try and hack the FAFSA?
We can see the thought bubble now, “bwahaha, I’m going to hack the FAFSA so that none of America’s college students get any federal aid!”
Does this scenario seem likely to anyone else? Because it seems incredibly unlikely to us. There’s nothing to be gained from stealing a student’s FAFSA PIN. The information on the FAFSA might be useful but we would like to think that the government’s servers are secure.
No, we see no use for a department of education PIN, and as such would like to see it eliminated. If that is impossible, then can we at least decrease the time it takes to get a PIN?
In today’s world of instant everything, having to wait 24-72 hours for something, on the Internet no less, is extremely aggravating.
So, Department of Education, either speed it up or throw it out.
