As 2022 winds to a close, the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) is looking back at the top blog posts from the past year that grabbed you, our members’ and readers’, attention. As a reminder, all our blog posts can be found on this web page.
Financial aid makes education after high school more affordable – but first, students must apply for this funding. And for a variety of reasons, that does not always happen. According to an NCAN analysis from earlier this year, the high school class of 2021 left an estimated $3.75 billion in Pell Grants on the table by not completing the FAFSA.
In addition to the FAFSA, some college-bound students must complete a second, more detailed application operated by College Board called the College Scholarship Service (CSS) Profile to receive financial aid. About 240 institutions and scholarship programs use
the CSS Profile to help determine institutional aid eligibility. This blog post reviewed changes planned for the 2022-23
CSS Profile.
Data released to NCAN by FSA in March of this year showed that FAFSA applications for the 2022-23 cycle were down 8.9% year-over-year. More specifically, FAFSA renewals from currently enrolled college students declined 12.3%, and renewals
from Pell Grant-eligible students plummeted by 15.6%. This blog post breaks down this data and its implications.
After two years of gloomy news around FAFSA completion and college enrollment, the high school class of 2022 finally provides us with some encouragement in July of this year. Through July 1, high school FAFSA completions were up 4.6% year-over-year,
representing roughly 92,000 additional applications. This blog post delves into these numbers and
possible reasons behind the rise.
In January, NCAN excitedly announced the 12 college attainment professionals who make up our inaugural cohort of Leading for Equity Fellows. These accomplished rising leaders represent NCAN member organizations from across the country.
Get to know who they are and what they hope to accomplish in this blog post.