Dive Brief:
- Roughly 1.1 million high school seniors submitted a Free Application for Federal Student Aid through late February, down 38% compared to the same time last year, according to a recent analysis from the National College Attainment Network.
- About 26.4% of the class of 2024 submitted the FAFSA through Feb. 23. But an even lower share of students attending low-income public high schools, 22.5%, sent in the form by that date. About 47.1% fewer seniors at these high schools submitted the form by late February compared to the last cycle.
- The dropping submissions rates come after the U.S. Department of Education made the FAFSA available about three months later than usual in order to streamline the form.
Dive Insight:
The latest analysis marks a slight improvement compared to earlier figures in the financial aid cycle. A previous analysis from NCAN found roughly 676,000 high school seniors had sent in FAFSA by Jan. 26, a 56.6% decline from the same time last year.
The rollout of the new FAFSA — which reduces the number of questions students and their families must answer — has been marred by technical glitches and delays.
In January, the Education Department said it wouldn’t send FAFSA applicant data to colleges until the first half of March, sharply compressing the time colleges have to put together financial aid packages. Usually, the form opens in October and colleges receive data shortly thereafter.
Earlier this week, the Education Department said it was still on track to begin transmitting the data in the first half of March. The department said it reached out to roughly 450 colleges to help them prepare aid offers, and that 150 institutions have requested technical assistance.
The FAFSA hangups this cycle may harm the bottom lines of colleges that enroll high shares of low-income and minority students, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings. That’s because the delayed FAFSA transmission is forcing institutions to postpone their offers until at least late March or April.
“This puts colleges at risk of losing admitted students to competitors with lower sticker prices or to colleges that can afford to commit financial aid or merit funds to students before knowing FAFSA results,” analysts wrote.
Some colleges are seeing lower deposit rates due to students holding off on sending in these payments until they can compare aid offers. Others may forgo college altogether due to the delays.
“For colleges that are almost solely dependent on student-generated revenues, this enrollment uncertainty is wreaking havoc on their already tight budget planning for the upcoming fiscal year,” analysts wrote.
Last month, analysts at S&P Global Ratings predicted similar challenges for colleges with high numbers of low-income students.
