The following editorial appeared in the Contra Costa Times on Wednesday, Oct. 13.

A just-released study by an education group suggests that college students struggling to make ends meet could get substantial monetary help from the federal government to pay for college, if only they would ask for it.

While the data are a bit moldy because the study relies on numbers from 1999-2000, the examination by the American Council for Education suggests that, even as costs escalated, hundreds of thousands of eligible students did not apply for available college financial aid.

In fact, the study concludes that 850,000 students who would have been eligible for Pell Grants – the principal federal grants for low-income students – did not apply for them.

It emphasizes the point frequently made by educators that students often miss out on financial aid opportunities because they aren’t aware of how the system works or are thoroughly confused by it.

Frankly, that is not so much an indictment of the students as it is of the complicated application procedures.

We have seen those daunting, confusing forms, not to mention the daunting, confusing and sometimes arcane rules that accompany them.

If the government truly wants students to take advantage of these funds, then it should simplify its application procedures.

The government must also make a concerted attempt to properly educate counselors and teachers at both high schools and colleges about the funds that are available.

These are the people who can help find the students who could be eligible for the funds.

They should be encouraged to help kids apply for these funds, and they should be given the tools to do so.

One of the most disturbing aspects of this problem is that experts have told us repeatedly that students and their parents always think the available money is for someone else.

Jacqueline King, director of ACE’s Center for Policy Analysis, said that her group found wide misconceptions about the intent of the funds.

“We talked to middle-class parents who said the money’s only available if you are really poor, and poor parents said you had to have a perfect SAT score,” King said.

Neither of those things is true.

While few students with more than $40,000 in family income qualify for Pell Grants, many more qualify for Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) aid, which are subsidized student loans.

Yes, the forms for FAFSA are also a painful experience, but they are well worth the effort in most cases.

If students are going to take advantage of these and other federal programs designed to help with college-aid, the government must simplify the application process and do a far better job of reaching the students eligible.

We are certain that those two changes alone would greatly increase the number of students who apply for this money.