State-level policies can change the nature of college and career advising across the United States. Through our current Postsecondary Pathways Project,
the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) identified eight of these policy levers and is currently focused on how states adopt and advance them. More information on these levers, and states current conditions related to them, are now available
via a new, online interactive dashboard.
What’s the lever? States should implement Universal Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to increase FAFSA completion.
Why? Every year billions of dollars of federal aid go unclaimed by eligible students. For example, the class of 2022 left $3.6 billion in Pell Grants on the table. More than 1.65 million high school graduates did not fill out the FAFSA, of which an estimated 767,000 were Pell Grant-eligible. FAFSA completion is strongly associated with postsecondary
enrollment, especially for students from low-income backgrounds. Postsecondary education, in turn, is associated with many positive outcomes (e.g., financial, health, civic). Six states now require FAFSA completion as a high school graduation requirement,
and more than a dozen others have considered this policy change. The states that have implemented this policy have seen impressive increases in FAFSA completion. For example, Louisiana saw a 25.9% year-over-year increase in the first year of implementation.
If universal FAFSA policies can increase FAFSA completions, states hope and suspect there will be knock-on effects on enrollment, persistence, and completion.
Background: The FAFSA is strongly correlated with positive postsecondary outcomes, such as enrollment after high school graduation and persistence. By adopting a Universal FAFSA policy, making the form a requirement for graduation, states can promote one indicator of postsecondary enrollment among their high school seniors.
What should states do? States should proactively find ways to raise their FAFSA completion rates. Some states have passed legislation, or changed graduation requirements via agency regulations, that would make completion of the FAFSA
or a state equivalent a requirement for high school graduation. States considering this policy should begin building, providing, and improving robust training for school counselors, college access advisors, and other student-supporting stakeholders
to allow them to support students with complying with this policy. An effective policy also must include an opt-out system for students with special circumstances or well-founded reasons for not completing a FAFSA.
How does NCAN categorize states for this lever?
Not Introduced: To this point, the state has not begun to consider implementing a Universal FAFSA policy.
Introduced: The state legislature has begun discussions regarding Universal FAFSA. This includes introducing bills that would implement the graduation requirement and/or bills that would create a task force that would study the policy.
These bills either failed to get out of the legislature or were vetoed by the governor.
Passed: The state has a Universal FAFSA bill signed into law, but the graduation requirement is not yet in place. These states are currently planning to implement in the coming years.
Implemented: The state has implemented a FAFSA graduation requirement. They are working with counselors and students to provide support and promote ease of completion. Also included here: states with grant programs for LEAs to promote
FAFSA completion and states where universal FAFSA policy is in at least one large school district, but is not a state-wide requirement.
What’s the status of this lever for my state? Our current understanding of the landscape for this state policy lever appears in the map below.
NCAN is updating these analyses frequently, and the most updated version lives here. Have questions about your state or want to make an update? Contact Bill DeBaun,
Senior Director of Data and Strategic Initiatives.
Stay tuned as we continue to highlight how states can advance their students’ college and career readiness and increase educational attainment!
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