Major General (Retired) Mark A. Brown, Chief Operating Officer at FSA, addresses attendees at the 2019 FSA Training Conference in Reno, Nevada.
There was a constant stream of FAFSA-related news at the Federal Student Aid (FSA) conference in Reno, Nevada, last week. NCAN applauds all the efforts that FSA has and will embark on to continue to enhance the FAFSA experience for users. Early FAFSA data for the 2020-21 cycle are also encouraging. We hope to see this momentum continue throughout the academic year, resulting in an increase in FAFSA completion overall and especially for the country’s high school seniors.
Now, let’s dive into the mountain of FAFSA news.
Completion Data
Here are some of the most interesting facts we gleaned about FAFSA completion for the last few cycles.
Over 820,000 FAFSAs were submitted by high school seniors during October 2019. This is an increase from 780,000 in October 2018.
The total number of FAFSAs submitted by Oct. 31 for the 2019-20 year was 16,393,853. This was a small decrease from the 2018-19 FAFSA submissions the prior year.
Over 50% of FAFSAs submitted by seniors this October come from families with annual income under $50,000.
Seventy-five percent of FAFSAs filed by incoming freshman list more than one school.
The October 2019 IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) use rate was 61.76% – up from 57.85% in October last year.
Even with a change in the qualifying question for Simplified Needs Test related to Schedule 1, a similar numbers of students are qualifying this October as did last October.
Slightly less than 2.5 million FAFSAs were filed this October, with approximately 38,000 of those being filed via the mobile app.
Training Materials
During the first open forum at the FSA conference, NCAN asked about the possibility of having training materials and the FAFSA Demo site available at least 30 days ahead of the opening day for the FAFSA cycle. Our members and other stakeholders that do FAFSA training as well as financial aid information nights in September have had no training materials available prior to the FAFSA opening for the last few years.
Major General (Retired) Mark A. Brown, chief operating officer at FSA, committed to “having all training materials available that do not violate any current laws” 30 days in advance next year. This is a huge victory for everyone as we continue to train/share about the critical FAFSA completion process with stakeholders, students, and families.
At the 2019 FSA Training Conference in Reno, Nevada, NCAN Director of Technical Assistance MorraLee Keller secures a commitment from FSA officials to have FAFSA training materials available 30 days prior to opening day for the 2021-22 FAFSA cycle.
Verification
FSA developed the new technology of the Machine Learning Model (MLM) used in the verification selection process. The result to date for the 2019-20 year is a selection rate of approximately 22% of applicants, compared to an average of 30% in previous years.
The new model is projected to reduce both the number of applicants selected and the amount of improper payments. This may result in 900,000 fewer FAFSA filers being selected and a reduction in the verification melt rate to 11%.
Additional Improvements
FSA continues to look to the future for continued modifications and enhancements for the both the web and mobile versions of the FAFSA. Here is a brief list of areas already being explored:
There will be changes to the IRS 1040 form that will require adjustments to the FAFSA. The IRS is reducing the numbered schedules from six to three, resulting in questions being shifted back and forth between the 1040 form and schedules. The IRA distribution and pension question will be split back into two questions.
The IRS DRT will be able to provide the information regarding filing of Schedule 1. For those eligible to use the DRT, the proper response will be supplied to determine the Simplified Needs Test qualifier.
Targeted areas for the web/mobile improved experience include the Federal School Code search, the high school search, and the process for editing completed data prior to submission.
NCAN also had the opportunity to participate in a FAFSA workshop hosted by FSA that focused on gathering user feedback on two specific areas: 1) determining household size/number in college and 2) reporting the correct parent(s) income on the form.
We hope our NCAN members will be excited about all of the progress being made by FSA. For additional developments on the financial aid front, check out this article about FSA's Next Gen initiative, authored by NCAN Executive Director Kim Cook.
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