Sometimes financial aid and memes from Bridesmaids do not mix, as the US Education Department learned tonight:
It's a particularly egregious tweet given that the Obama administration has devoted time and energy to getting low-income students into top colleges — and they'll need the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, to get financial help.
Students from families with slightly higher incomes are more likely to fill out the free application in time to qualify for need-based aid. So are students from families where parents already went to college.
Meanwhile, a proposal with bipartisan support in the House and Senate would turn the complicated FAFSA form into just two questions.
Update: The Education Department apologized Wednesday morning:
"We apologize for this insensitive Twitter post, which flies in the face of our mission of opening doors of opportunity for every student. It was an ill-conceived attempt at reaching students through social media. We are reviewing our process for approving social media content to ensure it reflects the high standards we expect at the U.S. Department of Education."
Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:
First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.
Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.
So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)
If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.
Yes, I'll give $5/month
Yes, I'll give $5/month
We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and
Google Pay. You can also contribute via
