Fewer college students are filling out the FAFSA
As of March 8, solely 31% of the highschool class of 2024 had accomplished the FAFSA, in line with the Nationwide School Attainment Community, a 33% decline in comparison with a yr in the past.
“We are getting to a point where kids are just giving up on it,” stated Anne Zinn, a college counselor at Norwich Free Academy in Norwich, Conn. “They are so extremely frustrated they just don’t know what to do.”
“There’s also a psychological aspect of this,” Kantrowitz added. “Students have no confidence that they are going to get the financial aid they need to make college affordable and they are opting out.”
The FAFSA serves as the gateway to all federal help cash, together with loans, work research and grants, the latter of that are essentially the most fascinating sorts of help as a result of they sometimes don’t have to be repaid.
Beneath the brand new help system, an extra 2.1 million college students must be eligible for the utmost Pell Grant, in line with the U.S. Division of Training.
Nevertheless, given the slower tempo of FAFSA functions being submitted, “the number of Pell Grant recipients will be about the same as last year, despite the new Pell Grant formula making it easier for students to qualify,” Kantrowitz stated.
“The goal of FAFSA simplification was to increase the number of lower-income students applying. If we have fewer because of a bad rollout, it’s extremely problematic,” he added.
FAFSA completion paves the best way to school
Submitting a FAFSA is likely one of the finest predictors of whether or not a highschool senior will go on to school, the Nationwide School Attainment Community discovered. Seniors who full the FAFSA are 84% more likely to instantly enroll in faculty.
Nevertheless, prior to now, many households mistakenly assumed they wouldn’t qualify for monetary help and did not even hassle to use. Others stated a prolonged and overly difficult software was a significant hurdle. Some stated they only did not have sufficient details about it.
“I never planned to attend college because I knew my mother couldn’t afford it,” stated Tikai Harvey, 19, a sophomore at Hunter School in New York. Harvey solely realized in regards to the FAFSA her senior yr of highschool, she stated. Earlier than then, “I didn’t know federal grants existed.”
In peculiar years, highschool graduates missed out on billions in federal grants as a result of they did not fill out the FAFSA. The plan to simplify the 2024-25 type was meant to enhance faculty entry.
This yr’s rollout has not achieved that, Kantrowitz stated. “This is a complete mess.”
