fact sheet: lgbt discrimination in higher education financial aid

8/4/2019 Fact Sheet: LGBT Discrimination in Higher Education Financial Aid

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Fact Sheet: LGBT Discrimination

in Higher Education Financial AidAssistance Should Be Allocated on Need, Not SexualOrientation

Crosby Burns

What you need to know:

• Through the Free Application or Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, the ederal government

provides more nancial aid or higher education than any other institution. But becauseo discriminatory laws the FAFSA treats amilies headed by two mothers or two athers

dierently than amilies headed by a mother and a ather.

• This treatment distributes higher education nancial aid in ways that sometimes hurt

and sometimes help amilies headed by same-sex couples. Either way, this means that

nancial aid is oten allocated based on sexual orientation when it should be based

solely on nancial need.

• Transgender applicants can encounter roadblocks with the FAFSA due to selective ser-

vice issues, and possibly with data mismatch with their name and gender markers. Botho these issues can result in the delay or the rejection o their application.

•Gay and transgender youth with unsupportive and hostile amilies also encounter

barriers throughout the application process that hinder their chances o receiving a

college education.

•Lawmakers and the Department o Education should take the necessary steps to level the

playing eld and make the application process more air and efcient or students, amilies,

and American taxpayers.

The higher education inancial aid landscape

•eFreeApplicationforFederalStudentAid,orFAFSA,isthegatewaytoaccessing

thenancialresourcesthatgivemillionsofstudentseveryyeartheopportunityto

receiveacollegeeducation.



2 Center or American Progress | Fact Sheet: LGBT Discrimination in Financial Aid

•efederalgovernmentawardsmorenancialaidthananyotherprovider.In2010the

DepartmentofEducationdeliveredmorethan$134billioninloans,grants,andwork-

studyfundstomorethan14millionstudentsaendingmorethan6,200institutions.

• Additionally,stategovernmentsandprivateentitiesalsoprovideaidtostudentsinneedof

nancialassistance,andmostusetheFAFSAtodetermineeligibilityforaidprograms.

The FAFSA discriminates against amilies headed bysame-sex couples

•eDefenseofMarriageAct,orDOMA,thefederallawthatdenesmarriageasthe

unionbetweenonemanandonewoman,prohibitstheDepartmentofEducationfrom

recognizinganyformofsame-sexrelationships,includingmarriage,domesticpartner-

ships,orcivilunions.

•Childrenwithtwolegallyrecognizedsame-sexparentsthereforearenotabletofullyincludebothoftheirparentsaspartoftheirapplicationfornancialaid.Instead,the

FAFSAconsiderssame-sexparentsinthesamewaytheydodivorcedorseparatedparents.

Applicantsarealsonotabletoincludesame-sexspousesaspartoftheirapplication.

• Sometimesfamilieswithtwomothersortwofatherswillreceivelessaidthanasimilar

familywithamotherandafather.Butothertimes,familieswithgayparentswillironi-

callybenetfromthisdiscriminatorytreatmentandreceivemoreaidthantheywould

haveotherwisereceived.

A case study: Isabel and Allison

• IsabelandAllisonarealegallymarriedcouplewhohavethreechildrenandwhose

householdincomeamountsto$65,000—$40,000fromAllison’searningsand$25,000

fromIsabel’searnings.

In some instances Isabel and Allison will counterintuitively beneit rom

DOMA’s restrictive deinition o marriage:

• Ifoneoftheirchildren,Samuel,appliesforhighereducationnancialaid,theFAFSA

willonlyconsideroneparent’sincomeandassets.IntheeyesoftheFAFSA,thiswill

articiallyincreaseSamuel’sneedforaidandwillresultinmorenancialaidforhis

collegeexpenses.

• IfAllisondecidestoreturntoschool,theFAFSAwillnotincludeherspouseaspartof

herapplicationsincesheisalsoawoman.Allison’shouseholdincomeisnow$25,000




less(Isabel’sexcludedincome)thantheirfamily’sactualhouseholdincome,demon-

stratingahigherneedforaidandresultinginmoremoneybasedonsexualorienta-

tion,andnotonnancialneed.

But in other instances, the application process will rob Isabel and

Allison’s amily o much-needed inancial assistance:

• IfIsabeldecidestoreturntoschooltheFAFSAwillnotonlydiscountherspousebut

alsoherthreechildrenaspartofherhouseholdsizesinceshedoesnotcontributeto

morethan50percentoftheirincome.Soinsteadofheractualhouseholdsizeofve,

theFAFSAwilllikelydetermineshelivesalone,maskingthefamily’sneedfornancial

aidandresultinginadiminishednancialaidpackage,ifshereceivesoneatall.

• IfIsabelandAllisonareundertheageof24theFAFSAmayconsiderthem“depen-

dents”andrequirethemtoreporttheirparent’sincomeandassetsshouldeitherapply

fornancialaid.iswillsignicantlyreducetheamountofmoneytheyreceivefortheircollegeexpensesormayresultinanoutrightrefusalofaideventhoughdierent-

sexcouplesareautomaticallyconsideredindependentiftheyaremarried.

Inshort,thenancialaidprocessiseitherarbitrarilyrewardingasubstantialportionof

federaltaxpayerdollarstofamiliesheadedbysame-sexcouplesorwearedenyingthese

familiesthesameaccesstoaidasfamiliesheadedbydierent-sexparents.Bothofthese

scenariosareinecient,unfair,andunacceptable.

Hindrances or transgender students: Selective Service anddata mismatch

• Transgenderstudentsmayrunintotwoobstaclesthatmaypreventthemfromsubmit-

tinganapplicationontime,ifatall,orresultinarejectedFAFSA:

– Selective Service—Financialaidadministratorsmayincorrectlydelayatransgender

man’sapplicationforaidbecauseheisnotregisteredfortheSelectiveService—a

meansbywhichtheU.S.governmentmaintainsinformationonthosepotentially

subjecttomilitaryconscription—wheninfactheisnotrequiredtoregistersincehe

wasnotbornmale.– Data mismatch—Transgenderstudentsmayhavetheirapplicationrejectediftheir

nameorgenderdoesnotmatchothergovernmentrecords,namelytheirSocial

Securityrecords.

• Whiletherearewaystoavoidthedelayandrejectionofanapplicationfornancial

aid,theprocessiscomplicatedandunavoidableformanytransgenderapplicants.




Gay and transgender youth with hostile amilies

•Manyyounggayandtransgenderapplicantsencounterroadblockstosubmiingacom-

pleteFAFSAwhenunaccepting,hostile,orevenabusiveparentsrefusetoprovidetheir

nancialinformation:

–Gayandtransgenderhomelessyouthareoenestrangedfromabusiveparents,andtheyareunabletoacquiretheirparent’snancialinformationorsignaturetocomplete

aFAFSA.– Parentswilloenrefusetosigntheirchild’sFAFSAunlessheorsheenters“reparative”

therapiesthatseektoalteror“change”achild’ssexualorientationorgenderidentity.– Parentsmaynanciallycutoagayortransgenderchildwhocomesoutincollege,

butnancialinstitutionswilloenfailtorecognizethesignicantchangeinthe

student’snancialcircumstance.

• WhiletheFAFSArecognizestheobstaclesfacingthesestudentsbyallowingthemto

submitanincompleteapplication,thereisnoguaranteethattheirnancialaidinstitu-tionwillacknowledgestudents’circumstances,leavingmanystuckonthestreetorin

hostilehomeenvironments.

Summary and recommendations

•ehighereducationnancialaidsystemforgayandtransgenderapplicantsisbroken.

Federal,state,andprivateentitiesarearbitrarilydistributingnancialaidbasedonsexual

orientationratherthantheiractualnancialneed.What’smore,transgenderindividu-

alsaswellasgayandtransgenderyouthfromhostileorabandonedfamiliesencounterobstaclesthatmaypreventthemfromsubmiinganapplicationontime,ifatall.

•Repeal DOMA so that that nancial aid providers can allocate aid

based on nancial need and not on sexual orientation•Ensure same-sex couples have the right to adopt children so the

FAFSA can ully recognize all amilies•Streamline the name- and gender-changing identication pro-

cess or transgender individuals to avoid delay and rejection

o aid applications•Address gay and transgender youth homelessness through com-

prehensive legislation

•Study these issues in detail and do what is in its power to recog-

nize gay and transgender individuals and amilies•Reorm the system so that gay and transgender applicants can

more easily submit an application without delay or rejection• Issue comprehensive guidelines to the more than 6,000 institu-

tions that disburse ederal aid to students that address the issues

acing gay and transgender applicants and remove existing road-

blocks or these applicants•Update training regimens, policy manuals, and agency directives

to educate sta about these issues

Federal and state lawmakers should… The Department o Educaton should…



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fact sheet: lgbt discrimination in higher education financial aid

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