By Louisa Woodhouse, Policy Associate, and Bill DeBaun, Senior Director of Data and Strategic Initiatives
Reading time: Six minutes
Last week, in collaboration with the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO),
the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) hosted a first-of-its-kind Midwest FAFSA Summit. The three-day event, which took place in downtown Chicago (IL), convened around 150 college access and financial aid experts, administrators, advocates,
and policymakers, working tirelessly to improve Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion and college enrollment for students in the Midwest. The agenda covered a wide range of topics related to FAFSA completion, from policy to communications to data.
Though a timely response to the sobering declines in national and state-level FAFSA completion rates seen this cycle, NCAN, MHEC, and SHEEO conceptualized the Midwest regional summit
prior to the challenges resulting from the redesigned FAFSA this year. Inspired by successful state-level FAFSA summits, and holding the goal of college enrollment paramount, the summit organizers aimed to:
Equip state-level stakeholders with comprehensive insights into FAFSA support activities and policies.
Facilitate networking and collaboration among various state stakeholders.
Promote regional and national partnerships by showcasing best practices and initiatives dedicated to FAFSA support.
"We had an excellent turnout at the Midwest FAFSA Summit, underscoring the importance of these discussions," said Susan Heegaard, MHEC President. "FAFSA stakeholders from our region, representing states, institutions, and non-profits, were able to engage
in timely and meaningful dialogue with one another, sharing ideas, challenges, and successes. Students, and their families, as well as institutions that serve them, have been struggling to find a constructive path forward. We are enthusiastic about
continuing the momentum in our states to bolster FAFSA completion rates across the Midwest, and we are grateful to NCAN and SHEEO for partnering with us on this endeavor."
In a session showcasing best practices for state approaches to FAFSA completion, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC), an NCAN member, chronicled their journey developing FAFSA completion
initiatives and situating FAFSA completion goals within broader postsecondary access efforts. Since 2009, ISAC has employed a group of recent college graduates making up the ISACorps, to scale high quality financial aid training and near-peer advising
statewide. In 2021, Illinois became the second state to implement a universal FAFSA policy. The effect of these efforts is undeniable: Illinois currently has the third highest FAFSA completion rate in the country.
Despite ISAC’s success, Eddie Brambilla, Managing Director of Capacity Development, reminded the audience that completion rates alone are not the be-all and end-all. Rather, FAFSA completion is critical because it is a key to making college accessible
for students: “We have to be extremely careful that this is not just another thing we count. FAFSA may be the last chance to have a meaningful conversation with a student about their opportunities,” Brambila explained. “We are in the business of creating
opportunity.”
In plenary sessions that followed, NCAN members presented approaches to legislative strategy and policy advocacy regarding universal FAFSA bills. The Indiana Commission on Higher Education (ICHE) highlighted
FAFSA completion as a piece of the state’s broader higher education-focused HOPE Agenda (Hoosier Opportunities and Possibilities through Education). Though it took multiple revisions and several legislative cycles for the universal FAFSA bill to pass,
ICHE’s most effective advocacy emphasized FAFSA completion as necessary to increase college affordability and attainment, and in turn, drive economic prosperity in Indiana.
Speakers Angel McAllister and Kate Marling advised states looking to pass similar legislation that framing proved critically important to legislators in Indiana: The House Education Committee struck FAFSA “requirement” verbiage but approved of language
making FAFSA filing the “default option” for high school students, with robust opt-out provisions. Indiana’s class of 2024 is having the strongest year-over-year FAFSA completion performance, according to NCAN’s FAFSA Tracker.
Although universal FAFSA policies have contributed to higher FAFSA completion rates, the mandates are just one way to drive up FAFSA completion at the state level. Throughout the summit, participants spoke about FAFSA data sharing strategies, incentives
and raffles, statewide outreach programs, and coupling FAFSA completion with other policies like direct admission.
In the afternoon, state teams gathered to analyze their landscapes and set goals around college access and FAFSA completion. The Ohio team recognized diversity and strength of partners in the college access space but identified a lack of coordination
between stakeholders. To unite postsecondary access leaders, the group set the goal of hosting their own state FAFSA summit. "We landed on hosting a FAFSA summit this fall through a robust conversation with participation from ODHE, NCAN, I Know I Can, and the Higher Education Compact of Greater Cleveland, and we are excited to join forces with other stakeholders for this convening," said Kittie Warshawsky, Chief External Affairs Officer at College Now Greater Cleveland.
Inspired by the morning’s presentations from Indiana and Tennessee, NCAN members on the Michigan team began to strategize
around gathering data to develop a statewide FAFSA completion framework, and elevating student voices in related policy advocacy efforts. At the Indiana table, organizations laid out a plan to improve high school engagement – expanding outreach and
FAFSA completion events to every school in the state. For Minnesota organizations, who highlighted an active ecosystem of state partners, the focus shifted to supporting FAFSA completion for specific student populations, including those from low-income
families and non-traditional students.
In a closing plenary, Jacqui Moreno, of ISAC, issued a final call to action, emphasizing the need for thoughtful, data-backed frameworks and policy to improve FAFSA completion and postsecondary access. She pointed out that many processes associated with
greater college success have been systematized through high school curricula and state policy: “Standardized tests are needed for college admission. So, what do we do? Take college entrance exams during the school day. Dual enrollment is correlated
with increased degree attainment. So, we offer more dual enrollment exams.” However, similar innovation is less common for FAFSA completion efforts, Moreno explained. “Lack of FAFSA completion is negatively correlated with enrollment. And what do
we do? Have a contest and host pizza parties.”
To continue the momentum from the regional summit, NCAN, MHEC, and SHEEO, will provide technical assistance and support as state teams work towards implementing and realizing the goals outlined at the event. For questions about organizing a FAFSA summit,
please contact Bill DeBaun at debaunb@ncan.org.
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