For Children of Same-Sex Parents, A School Aid Maze

One more reason to end marriage discrimination Here's the latest from the New York Times

It took five attempts for one prospective college student and her mother to fill out the 106-question federal form that would determine whether she would be eligible for financial aid. And that was not just because the form was frustratingly complicated. 

What tripped them up was the fact that the student had two legal mothers — and the form had room for only one.

The aid form, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is the single most important document in determining how much and what type of financial aid students receive. But the form, informally called Fafsa, has not kept up with the changing composition of families, in large part because the federal agency that issues it has to abide by the Defense of Marriage Act, which recognizes only heterosexual marriage. Because these students cannot fully portray their family’s finances, the amount of aid they receive may not fairly reflect their needs.

 

Read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/your-money/for-children-of-same-sex-c…