"Prior-prior year" was one of the major student aid reforms of the Obama administration. To encourage students to apply for financial aid earlier, the rules were changed so that applicants could use the previous year's income data instead of waiting to file federal taxes and calculate the current year's income. The idea behind "prior-prior year" is that most families that are poor don't suddenly become wealthy, or even middle class, in a short period of time. Not many win the lottery (literally or figuratively), so the odds are overwhelming that someone who was eligible for aid a year ago is still eligible.  A similar idea is behind a new aid policy at Trinity College of Connecticut.