Indicator: FAFSA completion Breadcrumb Home Indicators FAFSA Completion Definition Grade 12 students eligible for federal financial aid complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by June 30. Recommended Metric(s) Percentage of grade 12 students who complete the FAFSA by June 30View CEDS ConnectionPercentage of grade 12 students who complete the FAFSA by June 30CEDS Connections offer guidance, including data elements and step-by-step analysis recommendations, for how to calculate select metrics. Type(s) of Data Needed Administrative data Why it matters Students who report completing a FAFSA are more likely to enroll in college, enroll in a four-year rather than a two-year college, and enroll full time rather than part time compared to students who do not complete an application.1, 2, 3 For example, students from low-income households who complete a FAFSA are 127 percent more likely to enroll in college in the fall after graduating high school than their peers who do not.4 One study found that, among students who applied and were admitted to college, there was a 29 percent difference in enrollment—84 percent of students who were admitted and completed the FAFSA enrolled in a four-year college, compared with 55 percent enrollment by students who were admitted but did not complete the FAFSA.5 Among the high school class of 2015, students from low-income households were less likely to submit the FAFSA (71 percent) compared to students from middle-income households (77 percent), despite having greater financial need. In addition, Latino students were less likely to complete the FAFSA (75 percent) compared to Black students (81 percent) or Asian students (84 percent).6 Being flagged for FAFSA verification increases the likelihood that a college-intending student will delay enrollment, and students of color are more likely to be flagged for FAFSA verification than White students.7Students who are eligible for financial aid but do not apply forgo a total of $24 billion in aid, adding to their student debt.8 Recognizing the importance of FAFSA completion, at least six states have made it a requirement for high school graduation; several more are considering following suit.9 What to know about measurement Records of FAFSA completion are federally collected and reported at aggregate levels by high school and district by the office of Federal Student Aid (FSA).iii At least 49 states have access to student-level data from FSA through the Student Aid Internet Gateway agreement, but only 38 states have established a data-sharing process for making student-level FAFSA completion data available to schools, as summarized by the National College Attainment Network.10The FAFSA does not currently collect information on applicants’ race/ethnicity; therefore, it is not currently possible to disaggregate federal FAFSA completion data (current research on differences in completion rates by subgroup typically includes survey data). The FAFSA Simplification Act contains several provisions that will modify current application and eligibility determination processes beginning in the 2023–2024 school year, including a provision that will require race/ethnicity data to be collected.11To be eligible to submit a FAFSA, students must be U.S. citizens or eligible noncitizens, so care should be taken in interpreting completion rates in schools with immigrant populations. Undocumented students are eligible for state financial aid in at least seven states,12 and E-W systems should also track whether students are completing state aid applications in addition to FAFSA.iii To report the number of students who submitted the FAFSA by high school, the office of FSA uses an automated process to aggregate counts based on the school names students enter on their applications. Because these names are not standardized, FSA cautions that the reported data “may not represent an exact count.” This limitation and others of the aggregate FAFSA completion data reported by FSA are summarized here. E-W Case Studies Image Access to Student-Level FAFSA Completion Data in Iowa Staff in all public high schools in Iowa can now access data on whether their students completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and receive weekly FAFSA reports. View Case Study Source frameworks This indicator appeared in five source frameworks reviewed for this report. Our proposed measure aligns with work by the Education Strategy Group on the From Tails to Heads framework. References 10National College Attainment Network. (n.d.). Student-level FAFSA data sharing: Policies by state. https://www.ncan.org/page/fafsadatasharing 11Collins, B., Dortch, C. (2022). The FAFSA Simplification Act. Congressional Research Service. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46909 12National Conference of State Legislatures. (2021). Undocumented student tuition: Overview. https://www.ncsl.org/research/education/undocumented-student-tuition-overview.aspx 1Cumpton, G., Schexnayder, D., King, C. T., & Stolp, C. (2012). Factors associated with education and work after high school for the classes of 2008 and 2009: A research report of the Central Texas Student Futures project. Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources, University of Texas at Austin. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/20410 2Roderick, M., Nagaoka, J., Coca, V., Moeller, E., Roddie, K., Gilliam, J., & Patton, D. (2008). From high school to the future: Potholes on the road to college. Consortium on Chicago School Research. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED5005193DeBaun, B. (2019). Survey data strengthen association between FAFSA completion and enrollment. National College Attainment Network. https://www.ncan.org/news/456025/Survey-Data-Strengthen-Association-Between-FAFSA-Completion-and-Enrollment.htm 4See DeBaun (2019).5See Roderick et al. (2008).6Bahr, S., Sparks, D., & Mulvaney Hoyer, K. (2018). Why didn’t students complete a free application for federal student aid (FAFSA)? A detailed look. Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018061/index.asp7Holzman, B., & Hanson, V. S. (2020). Summer melt and free application for federal student aid verification. Houston Education Research Consortium. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED607689 8Kofoed, M. (2017). To apply or not to apply: FAFSA completion and financial aid gaps. Research in higher education, 58(1), 1–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-016-9418-y 9National College Attainment Network. (n.d.). Universal FAFSA completion with supports. https://www.ncan.org/page/UniversalFAFSA