June 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration plans to reduce the number of questions college students must answer when they apply for financial aid through Pell Grant, Perkins Loan and other federal programs.

Simplifying the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, which can include as many as 153 questions, will help more U.S. students afford college, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said today at a White House news conference. The Education Department is easing the application process in partnership with the Internal Revenue Service.

The changes “will reduce the burden on the 16 million students and families who apply for federal financial aid every year, and are designed to help increase college enrollment among low-income and middle-income students by making it easier to apply for financial aid,” Duncan said.

The plan will reduce the number of FAFSA questions by 20 percent and cut in half the more than 29 Web pages students must navigate when they apply for financial aid online. About 1.5 million students now enrolled in college haven’t applied for Pell Grants even though they’re eligible, according to an Education Department summary of the FAFSA changes. The Pell Grant program helps low-income families afford college.

“We think part of the reason it goes unused is because this thing scares people off,” Duncan said of the form.

IRS Data

Starting this summer, students will be able to skip irrelevant and redundant FAFSA questions. For example, students who are automatically exempt from submitting their parents’ financial information -- because they are married or at least 24 years old -- can skip questions designed to determine whether parental data is necessary.

The plan also will exempt low-income students, starting in January, from providing information about their assets. The Education Department doesn’t use that data in determining low- income students’ eligibility for financial aid.

Duncan said he also will urge Congress to let families transfer their tax return data to the financial-aid application, instead of documenting their income through forms such as bank statements and investment records.

To contact the reporter on this story: Molly Peterson in Washington at mpeterson9@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 24, 2009 16:02 EDT