Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion by Ohio students has been a critical focus in the state for several years. Ohio’s Governor Mike DeWine (R) has issued an official proclamation to kick off the upcoming FAFSA season. The FAFSA
is returning to its standard opening date of October 1 after several years of rocky years for rolling out the enhanced form. Ohio had over an 11% increase for FAFSA completion for the Class of 2025 over the Class of 2024. It is hoped that the state
can continue to build on that momentum and see an even larger increase for the Class of 2026.
The Ohio legislature has invested a few million dollars to support FAFSA completion over the last several years through organizational and regional grants. The Ohio Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (OASFAA) offers free annual training
to school counselors and access program personnel to ensure students have well-informed advisers to assist them. The Ohio Department of Higher Education has organized FAFSA efforts, administered grants, and done an excellent set of enhancements to
the Ohio FAFSA Data Service for counselors to access student level data and the public dashboard - FAFSA by the Numbers - to help interested
schools, districts and organization to monitor completion progress throughout the year.
The National College Attainment Network (NCAN) encourages all states to amplify the FAFSA completion message!
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