The Education Trust–New York and education organizations across the Empire State released the "Financial Aid for College: High School Toolkit"
to support high schools in helping all students complete financial aid applications. Ed Trust–New York and its partners produced the resourcein response to data indicating that the percentage of high school seniors who completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in New York dropped as the coronavirus pandemic forced school closures last spring.
The toolkit highlights 10 evidence-based strategies schools can use either remotely or in-person to help students with financial aid application completion, tips for tracking progress, and materials in English and Spanish that can be used to communicate
with students and families.
The toolkit also includes:
Monthly checklists for schools on activities to support students in financial aid application completion.
How-to guides for hosting remote or in-person financial aid completion nights, scheduling office hours, and using class time to help students complete financial aid forms.
Answers to frequently asked questions about financial aid completion.
Although much of the content in the toolkit is specific to New York, there are many general principles and resources that will be valuable for those engaged in postsecondary advising across the country. Don’t let the name dissuade you from opening the
toolkit.
The resources were created by Ed Trust–New York in partnership with the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC), New York State Council of School Superintendents, the Options Center at Goddard Riverside, Hispanic Federation, New York
Immigration Coalition, New York State Association for College Admission Counseling, and New York State School Counselors Association.
These organizations will hold several virtual training sessions for high school educators on how they can best use the resources in the toolkit to assist their students with financial aid application completion. Learn more about the sessions here.
“High schools have the power to make a dramatic difference in whether students and families have the support to complete financial aid applications for college, and despite the many challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, educators are committed
to helping high school seniors realize the dream of a higher education,” said Ian Rosenblum, executive director of The Education Trust–New York, in a press release.
Although NCAN’s analysis shows that 90% of high school seniors who complete the FAFSA go to college immediately after graduation, just 55% of seniors who do not complete the FAFSA do so. Ed Trust–New York’s analysis of FAFSA completion data found that
in the 2019-20 school year, approximately 62% of New York State public high school seniors completed the FAFSA by June 26, representing a decline of more than 2 percentage points in FAFSA completions compared to both the 2018-19 and 2017-18 school
years.
Ed Trust–New York's analysis of FAFSA completion data also reveals schools that enroll the largest shares of students from low-income backgrounds have a completion rate that is 13% lower than schools that enroll the smallest shares of students from low-income
backgrounds.
An interactive FAFSA completion tracker data tool that allows the public to track the progress of each New York high school, with new FAFSA completion estimates updated
weekly starting in early 2021 and comparisons to similar schools and top performers.
The third-annual FAFSA Completion Challenge, which will recognize schools for high FAFSA completion rates and for improvements in FAFSA completion rates. Twelve awards
will be granted to schools across the state. Each award will consist of $750 to be provided as a scholarship to one of the winning high schools' students.
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