The Project EASI site goes a long way in making current information about higher education readily available to students, parents and institutions over the Internet. The site with an “easy” to remember address, http://easi.ed.gov, loads quickly with minimal graphics. EASI is an acronym for Easy Access for Students and Institutions. The U.S. Department of Education began this web site as an effort by government, business, and education leaders to make information about financial aid easier to access and use.
Project EASI’s home screen has four subject areas to choose from: Planning for your education, Applying to school, Receiving financial aid, and Repaying your loan. Each of these subject areas offers a wealth of information. A parent with children in junior high or high school would benefit from the first section on Planning. Under this section there are a number of informative links. One of the true gems is the booklet “Preparing Your Child for College”. This resource book has chapters on Choosing a College, Financing a College Education, Exercises and Checklists for You and Your Child, etc. The Checklists in the booklet include such things as a list of courses to include in a high school college prep curriculum and tips on picking a career.
There are also charts on topics such as Jobs Requiring College Preparation, Questions to Ask Guidance Counselors, and Typical College Costs. In addition to this informative booklet, the section on Planning gives links to Testing Sites such as Kaplan Testing (check out the interactive vocabulary tutor here) and the College Board with test dates for the SAT and other standardized tests. Finally, the Planning section includes links to various postsecondary pages, a number of which let you put in criteria to tailor your search to a college with certain majors, sports, etc.
The second section on Applying to school includes FAFSA Express. This link lets the user download and transmit electronically the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to the Department of Education. FAFSA is a form which must be filled out by students seeking financial aid from the Federal Government. in This section also includes the 1997‐98 edition of the “Student Guide to Financial Aid” which has explanations on the different types of financial aid. Other very useful links to sites not sponsored by the Department of Education include state financial aid sites; FastWEB, a free scholarship search service; and FinAid, a site with an extensive listing of financial aid sites on the Internet.
The last two sections of EASI titled Receiving Student Aid and Repaying Student Loans give basic information that is frequently asked about financial aid. There are thorough descriptions of the types of financial aid available; and the Repaying section covers the rules governing the repayment of loans.
EASI is highly recommended for anyone who wants to find out about planning for college and for those looking for financial aid. Most of the questions about financial aid and planning for college will be addressed at this site or sites linked to it. The EASI site is well organized and appears to be updated frequently to include the latest information put out by the government about financial aid. If you want to have only one bookmark on this subject put it at http://www.easi.ed.gov and you will cover most of the bases.
