SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos today joined Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) at Sevier County High School to show students and local guidance counselors how to use the newly launched myStudentAid mobile app. 

“Our goal is to make sure student borrowers who interact with Federal Student Aid have a world class customer service experience,” said Secretary DeVos. “Filling out the FAFSA is now easier than ever before. For the first time, students and parents can access the FAFSA on their cell phone and tablets, thanks to the newly launched myStudentAid app. While this is a major first step in our efforts to transform FSA, there is still much work to be done to simplify the FAFSA® and make the student loan repayment process more streamlined and easier to navigate. I look forward to working with Chairman Alexander and Congress on these important reforms.”

Secretary DeVos meets with students at Sevier County High School

Every year, 20 million students complete the FAFSA. In October, the U.S. Department of Education launched a new mobile app to make it simpler and easier to apply for and, in the future, pay back federal student loans using a smartphone or tablet.

To date, more than 209,000 people have downloaded the mobile app and more than 2.9 million have completed the 2019-20 FAFSA. Approximately 10 percent of the FAFSA submissions have come through the mobile app, opening access to more students, especially those who lack regular access to a computer.

“We have apps on our phones that allow us to do anything from booking an airplane ticket to placing an Amazon order, so while it may seem very ordinary to fill out the FAFSA on an app, this is the first year it's possible,” Sen. Alexander said. “Last year, about 775 high school students in Sevier County filled out the FAFSA – along with another 400,000 Tennesseans – but many others did not fill it out. I am glad Secretary DeVos is taking steps to make it easier for students to apply for federal and state financial aid, including Pell Grants, Tennessee Promise, and the Tennessee Hope Scholarship.”

Senator Alexander demonstrating the length of the FAFSA paper form