Study: U.S. financial aid fails students who need it most The $86 billion system is so complex and piecemeal that experts call for an overhaul.

The United States government spends upward of $86 billion a year on grants, loans, work aid, and tax benefits for college students. But the patchwork system is a barrier to many who are academically qualified for college, say a group of policy experts and higher-education professionals who laid out their recommendations in a report Sept. 18.

The "piecemeal, rickety financial aid system" needs an overhaul, according to by the Rethinking Student Aid study group. The College Board, a nonprofit association in New York, convened the group two years ago.

By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Full Story: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0919/p25s13-usgn.html