By Bill DeBaun, Senior Director, Data and Strategic Initiatives
Reading time: Four minutes
Through June 27, the high school class of 2025 completed 17.5% more Free Applications for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) than the class of 2024 did last year through the same date, equivalent to nearly 334,000 additional students applying
for aid for the 2025-26 academic year.
The National College Attainment Network (NCAN) estimates the class of 2025’s FAFSA completion rate was 53.9%, compared to about 47% for the class of 2024 by about June 30 last year. That 53.9% is not only close to the class of 2023’s
(the last cycle to open October 1) but also to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic classes of 2017-19.* The class of 2025 also recorded the highest number
of FAFSA completions by about June 30 that NCAN has on record by about 60,000 students.
The findings will come as a relief to practitioners and policymakers across the country, following an extremely difficult 2024-25 FAFSA cycle which saw FAFSAs decline sharply last year. These findings also reflect a smoother experience for students and
families and are also a likely signal of continued strong demand for higher education nationally.
Increasing FAFSA completions and expanding access to financial aid was, of course, the intention of FAFSA simplification. After a difficult 2024-25 cycle, the FAFSA process appears back on-track. Many students and families are reporting a smoother FAFSA
completion experience. It’s a tremendous achievement that has been accomplished by a concerted effort from the field, including and especially NCAN members. Our collective nationwide goal for the class of 2026 should be to achieve an all-time high
in FAFSA completion and then to push even further from there.
This year’s seniors returned to pre-pandemic levels of FAFSA completion despite having about two fewer months to complete the form. This cycle officially opened November 18, ahead of the scheduled December 1 launch.
All of this data comes from NCAN’s FAFSA Tracker, which examines high school seniors’ FAFSA completion rates at the national, state, and local levels using data published by the US Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) every Friday. June 30 is a date that looms large on NCAN’s calendar each year. It’s the date by which we usually compare FAFSA cycles to each other and measure national progress
on this key college access milestone.
Notably and critically: the 2025-26 FAFSA cycle is not over and remains open until June 30, 2026.
The FAFSA’s bounce-back was widespread at the state level. Every state recorded a positive year-over-year change in high school seniors’ FAFSA completions through June 27.
The largest percent change came from Oklahoma, which recorded a whopping 49.4% increase over last year as it implemented universal FAFSA for the first year. Washington, DC, Nebraska (also implementing
universal FAFSA), Nevada, and Mississippi round out the top five by year-over-year percent change.
By percent of seniors completing, perennial powerhouse Tennessee took the top spot at 66.2%. New Jersey (65.5%), Illinois (65%), Texas (63.6%), and California (60.9%) were the other top-completing states.
Long-time FAFSA Tracker observers will note the absence of Louisiana from the above group. This is the first cycle since the state repealed its universal FAFSA policy. Louisiana currently ranks 18th among states at 53.3% and recorded the smallest
year-over-year percent change at +0.5%. New Hampshire, which also repealed its policy after one year of implementation last cycle, had the second-smallest year-over-year growth at 6.6%.
Speaking of universal FAFSA, the policy continues to impact completions in adopting states. By percent of seniors completing, six of the top ten states, and eight of the top fifteen, have a universal FAFSA policy on the books.
In previous FAFSA cycles, NCAN has observed FAFSA completion gaps according to high schools’ income levels and demographic composition. The access provided by FSA is at the school level, not the student level, so we use schools’ characteristics to stand
in for the characteristics of their enrolled students.
By school income level, low-income public high schools (where 50+% of students are eligible for free- or reduced-price lunch) had an average FAFSA completion rate of 50.3%, compared to 56% for higher-income high schools where less than half of students
are eligible for FRPL programs. Looking at high schools by their percentage of Black and Hispanic students enrolled yields more encouraging results. High-minority public high schools that have 40+% Black and Hispanic enrollment had an average FAFSA
completion rate of 52.1% compared to 51% for high schools enrolling less than 40% of these groups.
Looking forward, the strong FAFSA completion performance for the class of 2025 bodes well for college enrollment this fall. Historically, FAFSA completion and immediate college enrollment have been tightly associated. The field will be watching to see
if that trend continues this year. Notably, last year 18-year-old freshman enrollment managed to increase despite steep
FAFSA completion declines.
The 2026-27 FAFSA cycle will open on October 1. We should celebrate the class of 2025’s successes and momentum, but we shouldn’t be wholly satisfied by it. NCAN’s FAFSA Tracker data shows a historic ceiling around a 54% completion rate, but we needn’t
stop there. Students, families, advisors, policymakers, and everyone else with an interest in students’ postsecondary futures should continue to push through and beyond that ceiling to connect students with the financial aid that can make their education
after high school more affordable and achievable.
Have questions or want to talk more about NCAN’s FAFSA Tracker? Please reach out to me at debaunb@ncan.org.
* Figures in previous posts at NCAN.org may differ slightly given their usage of 10th edition figures of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education’s (WICHE) Knocking at the College Door Project. NCAN’s 2025-26 FAFSA Tracker reflects the 11th edition of this project’s data.
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