Department of Education attempts to boost FAFSA completion

Cathy Cook, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
Updated ·3 min read

May 11—The U.S. Department of Education announced last week that it is launching a multi-million-dollar program to boost completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.

College students and prospective college students fill out the FAFSA to see if they qualify for federal and some types of state and institutional financial aid. But an overhaul of FAFSA intended to simplify the process of filling out the application and expand aid eligibility has led to technical glitches. That has made it harder for many to complete the application.

The new FAFSA became available in December, two months later than planned. While 8.95 million forms have been successfully submitted, FAFSA completion is still lower than the previous year.

In New Mexico, FAFSA completion by high school seniors is down by 23% from last year. For the previous school year, 68% of high school seniors completed the FAFSA, but by early May, only 36% of seniors had done so.

Meanwhile, up to $50 million in federal grants will be used to support organizations that work with schools and districts to increase FAFSA submissions.

"We are determined to close the FAFSA completion gap," said U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten. "The funding we're announcing ... will support states, districts, and community-based groups build capacity and leverage their power to ensure that every student who needs help paying for college turns in their FAFSA form."

At the University of New Mexico, about 60% of students receive some type of federal financial aid to help pay for their education, said Elizabeth Amador, director of student financial aid.

Other types of financial aid, including state and institution grants, also rely on some information from the FAFSA to determine eligibility. While the FAFSA is used to determine eligibility for need-based aid like the Pell Grant, the application also helps students qualify for financial aid that is not need-based.

Following the national trend, UNM's FAFSA filing rate for incoming freshmen is significantly lower than at the same time last year. Last year, the university's FAFSA filing rate for incoming freshmen was 53%, but as of last week, it was at 39%.

"We can see that there's a significant population of students that have not yet applied and they may be missing out on important federal, state, or institutional dollars that we would have for them," Amador said.

Current students are being affected too, Amador said, but it has been easier to assist those students, in part because they have been through the FAFSA process before and know when to ask for help.

Despite the hassle, filling out the FAFSA is likely still worth it for students.

More UNM students may be eligible for need-based aid than in the past. The point of updating the FAFSA was to streamline the process and expand eligibility for federal financial aid. The Pell Grant-eligible population at UNM is expected to almost double under the new federal eligibility guidelines, Amador said.

"Don't give up. Try to submit an application. If there's any issues that a student is encountering, reach out to us at UNM, reach out to the schools that you're interested in to try and get help," Amador said.