- Solely 42.5% of highschool seniors have competed the FAFSA, a lower of 14.4% in comparison with the prior yr
- Nevada, Florida, Utah, Arizona, and Alaska are the states with the bottom completion charges
- Decrease FAFSA completions signifies that fewer households will obtain need-based monetary assist for faculty (and even attend school to being with)
Solely 42.5% of the highschool class of 2024 has accomplished the FAFSA as of Might 24, in line with the most recent knowledge from the Nationwide School Attainment Community. That is 14.4% beneath the completion price of the category of 2023 at this identical time final yr.
This big decline may be attributed to the Division of Schooling’s failed FAFSA rollout and steady delays even after it launched. The Division of Schooling has been pushing to extend FAFSA completions via varied outreach initiatives, however as summer time approaches for seniors, FAFSA completions have plateaued.
NCAN FAFSA Tracker as of Might 24, 2024
Though many schools have prolonged their monetary assist deadlines, by not finishing the FAFSA, households are probably lacking out on monetary assist – together with Pell Grants. Moreover, with out receiving monetary assist, many specialists fear that school enrollment will decline as households determine they can not afford it.
FAFSA Delays And Botched Rollout
The FAFSA sometimes opens for completion in October, and households can being the monetary assist course of properly earlier than deciding on school enrollment (which occurs the next Might).
Nonetheless, this yr, the FAFSA opening was delayed till the final days of December, and processing was delayed all the best way till late-March (via Might). Even as soon as FAFSA submissions have been opened, households confronted problems with inaccurate knowledge requiring reprocessing, and a myriad of different errors.
The top result’s that households have been flying blind into school admissions season – probably having to make enrollment selections with out even understanding the price of school.
Associated: Most Costly Schools In 2024
States With The Highest And Lowest Completion Charges
Primarily based on the most recent knowledge from NCAN, listed below are the states with the best and lowest FAFSA completion charges:
Highest FAFSA Completion Charges
- Tennessee – 56%
- Louisiana – 53.8%
- Illinois – 53.2%
- Washington D.C. – 51.8%
- Texas – 51.3%
Lowest FAFSA Completion Charges:
- Alaska – 22%
- Utah – 27.4%
- Arizona – 29.2%
- Florida – 29.9%
- Nevada – 31.2%
What This Means For Households
Whereas the FAFSA submission deadline has handed for a lot of states and schools, that does not imply you should not apply.
The FAFSA can unlock each federal Pell Grants and scholar loans, which may be precious choices for college kids to pay for faculty.
Moreover, some schools should still have the ability to award scholarship and grant cash for eligible college students. Nonetheless, they may want that FAFSA to validate monetary want.
Lastly, some benefit scholarships, though they’re merit-based, require the FAFSA to be accomplished.
The underside line is that households ought to nonetheless fill out the FAFSA if they’re planning to attend school this fall.
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