Download Full Report -- http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/08/pdf/lgbt_higher_ed.pdf

Washington, D.C.—As college students pack up to head back to school and high school seniors begin to think about their college prospects, the Center for American Progress released a report today entitled, “Unequal Aid: Discriminatory Treatment of Gay and Transgender Applicants and Families Headed by Same-Sex Couples in the Higher Education Financial Aid Process,” finding that the federal government’s application for financial aid does not fully recognize families headed by same-sex couples and often renders them invisible. What results is the discriminatory misallocation of federal, state, and private dollars for higher education based on sexual orientation or gender identity—characteristics completely divorced from an applicant’s actual need for financial aid.

For some, biases inherent in the financial aid process result in less financial aid and in doing so, the system robs applicants otherwise deserving of financial assistance for higher education simply on the basis of sexual orientation. But for others, these biases actually result in more aid to finance a student's education because they or someone in their family is gay. In either case, the system clearly distributes higher education financial aid in an inefficient and ineffective way that is unfair to students, families, and American taxpayers.