EAB recently surveyed 4,500 high school seniors about their college applications, FAFSA completions, and other topics relevant to postsecondary
transitions. To be clear: the survey’s findings will hardly be surprising to NCAN members. Still, they are useful because the field has largely had to rely on anecdata to measure COVID’s impacts on student decision-making, and the survey
provides hard numbers for those impacts.
The finding probably most of interest to NCAN members is that “COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting underrepresented students at every stage of the application process.” In particular, “students of color, students from low-income families, and first-generation
students are more likely to adjust their application plans due to the pandemic than their counterparts.” Specifically, 43% of first-generation students modified their college application lists compared to 32% of non-first-generation students. Students
from these groups were also less likely to have taken the SAT or ACT and more likely to report difficulty accessing those tests during the pandemic.
The survey also found that students are waiting longer to submit their applications. Asked for the reasons behind those delays, 47% of respondents said it was too hard to focus on their future, 36% were worried about what college would be like due to
COVID-19, 30% said that they needed advice from their school counselor and were finding it hard to connect or that their family situation was uncertain. These numbers all quantify the very real student concerns that NCAN members have been hearing
for nearly a year now.
To be fairly understated: the COVID-19 era is a stressful time. Hispanic students, students from low-income backgrounds, and first-generation students all reported increased concerns about their ability to do well in college. The chart below shows the
disparities in students’ responses. Notably, Black respondents expressed below average concerns about doing well (62% vs. a 66% average) compared to Hispanic students (71% of whom were concerned).
Unsurprisingly, cost is a major concern for students and families. Sixty percent of respondents said that they had removed specific schools from their application lists because of cost concerns. Although this finding is not disaggregated by students’
economic backgrounds or first-generation status, NCAN members know that the concept of institutional net price is one with which many families are unfamiliar. Concerns about cost are always understandable, given the affordability crisis nationwide,
but in this moment students and families really need to understand the financial aid options that will reduce institutional sticker price and perhaps put a college or university within a student’s reach.
These data illuminate and quantify some of the challenges NCAN and our members know are facing the class of 2021. Along with data from NCAN’s #FormYourFuture FAFSA Tracker, the Common App,
and the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, they help advocates to paint a clearer picture for the public, other
practitioners, and policymakers alike.
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