- 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 help for school (and even attend faculty to being with)
Solely 42.5% of the highschool class of 2024 has accomplished the FAFSA as of Could 24, in accordance with the newest information from the Nationwide Faculty Attainment Community. That is 14.4% under the completion fee of the category of 2023 at this identical time final yr.
This large decline could be attributed to the Division of Training’s failed FAFSA rollout and steady delays even after it launched. The Division of Training has been pushing to extend FAFSA completions by means of varied outreach initiatives, however as summer season approaches for seniors, FAFSA completions have plateaued.
NCAN FAFSA Tracker as of Could 24, 2024
Though many faculties have prolonged their monetary help deadlines, by not finishing the FAFSA, households are doubtlessly lacking out on monetary help – together with Pell Grants. Moreover, with out receiving monetary help, many consultants fear that faculty enrollment will decline as households resolve they can’t afford it.
FAFSA Delays And Botched Rollout
The FAFSA sometimes opens for completion in October, and households can being the monetary help course of nicely earlier than deciding on faculty enrollment (which occurs the next Could).
Nevertheless, this yr, the FAFSA opening was delayed till the final days of December, and processing was delayed all the best way till late-March (by means of Could). Even as soon as FAFSA submissions had been opened, households confronted problems with inaccurate information requiring reprocessing, and a myriad of different errors.
The top result’s that households had been flying blind into faculty admissions season – doubtlessly having to make enrollment selections with out even realizing the price of faculty.
Associated: Most Costly Faculties In 2024
States With The Highest And Lowest Completion Charges
Based mostly on the newest information from NCAN, listed below are the states with the very 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 faculties, that does not imply you should not apply.
The FAFSA can unlock each federal Pell Grants and scholar loans, which could be beneficial choices for college students to pay for school.
Moreover, some faculties should be capable of award scholarship and grant cash for eligible college students. Nevertheless, they are going to want that FAFSA to validate monetary want.
Lastly, some benefit scholarships, although 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 faculty this fall.
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