May 2024: Partnering on FAFSA

A student smiles wearing a graduation cap with text next to them that says big dreams begin with FAFSA.
A new graphic from NCAN’s digital FAFSA campaign by NCAN

Director’s note

This month I’ve joined forces with Patrick, the director of our Postsecondary Success and Pathways strategies, for this newsletter.

We don’t need to tell you about the problems with the FAFSA rollout this year. You’ve seen the headlines. You may have even experienced challenges with the form yourself, whether you’re embarking on an educational journey or helping someone else do so. (Like Angela is, with her son graduating high school next month!)

We—Angela and Patrick—have joined forces here not to belabor the challenges, but to shine a light on and support those that are finding real solutions. The number of FAFSA meetings, chats, and emails here at the foundation in the last few months may mimic what you’ve experienced in your own organizations—i.e., copious. But the joy of working here is that we’ve got a lot of smart people and partners, which helps us tackle a big problem like this from all different sides.

This is a good example of that:

Angela and the Washington State team brought this issue to the Education Roundtable and Funders Network. Students, educators, and college leaders shared powerful stories about their struggles with the FAFSA rollout, but we also talked about two emerging solutions: One, nearly all Washington state four-year colleges pushed back their college decision deadlines, and two, funders helped the College Success Foundation launch a quick-response grant program to support local organizations helping students and families complete the FAFSA.

Angela's proximity to regional leaders—and students—enables her to come back and tell the nationally focused strategies at the foundation what’s really going on, what’s really needed, and what’s really working.

On the other side, Patrick works with national partners like the National College Attainment Network (NCAN), a leader in college access and affordability with members in almost every state in the country, which gives us insight into the large-scale efforts that are cooking in the background.

NCAN has been uniquely dedicated to fixing the FAFSA problems, working with both state-specific, student-facing organizations to maximize their contextualized efforts and with national funders and leaders to plan a mega awareness play. More on that below!

To state the obvious: If students don’t fill out the FAFSA, they can’t access the financial aid they need and deserve. Without that aid, too many won’t go to college. This is incredibly consequential because the students that would most benefit from a postsecondary education are often those eligible for the most aid. That's why we’re shouting out the same message to all our audiences today.

Want to help spread the word?

Earlier this month NCAN announced a giant digital campaign.

  • We’re proud to support the #DoTheFAFSA campaign, which will target those who often face the biggest barriers to accessing financial aid: 17 to 20-year-olds with family incomes of $60,000 or less, with an emphasis on students of color.
  • From now through August, this campaign is going big on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, and Snapchat to directly appeal to students to take the time and do the FAFSA.
  • If you are interested in contributing to the campaign, please contact Elizabeth Morgan, NCAN’s Chief External Relations Officer ([email protected]).

Want to directly support students?

  • The US Department of Education has made funding available for organizations that work directly with students and families to complete the form.
  • The “FAFSA Support Strategy” funds (administered by ECMC) will help organizations make more coaches and advisors available, extend support hours, deliver submission clinics, and communicate with families.

Let’s close with some good news from Washington: While still behind where we were at this point last year, the state is beginning to see positive momentum.

  • According to data from the Washington Student Achievement Council, in the week between April 26 and May 3, the state saw an overall 5 percentage point increase in FAFSA completion, closing to within 9 points of the same time a year ago.
  • Over that same week, 17 school districts who received grants in College Success Foundation’s quick-response effort saw an even bigger improvement, adding 13 percentage points on average, with two districts posting one-week gains of more than 20 points.

Readers, thank you for putting your efforts and expertise toward this problem. Spread the word, share these resources and opportunities, and all summer long, #DoTheFAFSA.

Angela Jones & Patrick Methvin
Director, Washington State and U.S. Charters
Director, Postsecondary Success

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Celebrating good news on postsecondary enrollment

High school graduating class graph chart

As the Education Research and Data Center (ERDC) found, direct postsecondary enrollment in Washington state increased slightly for the high school class of 2022 from 51% to 52%.

  • Direct enrollment includes all students who enrolled in a postsecondary program within a year of graduating high school.
  • What’s driving the increase for the class of 2022? More students enrolling in our state’s community and technical colleges.

Diving into the numbers a bit more:

  • Direct enrollment rates for Black students are close to pre-pandemic levels (57% in 2022 vs. 59% in 2019).
  • Direct enrollment for students from low-income backgrounds who graduated high school in 2022 increased by 3 percentage points compared to the year prior.
  • Latino students saw a similar 3 percentage point increase from the class of 2021 to 2022. However, the direct enrollment rate for Latino students has dropped from 53% in 2019 to 43% in 2022.

The bottom line: Washington STEM surveys confirm that 90% of Washington’s high schoolers want to pursue a post-high school education. As we emerge from a pandemic that created so much uncertainty for students, we’re making some promising progress—but we still have a lot of work to do.

Read more: Data Digest - Direct Postsecondary Enrollment for HS Class of 2022

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Voters want more action on postsecondary value

Do you think a four-year college degree is valuable graphic chart

As a new survey conducted for Third Way confirms, Americans still believe in the value of a college degree, but they want to see big reforms to ensure students get a positive return on their investment.

  • Eight in 10 voters believe that a four-year degree is valuable. That jumps to 85% for survey takers aged 18-44.
  • Trade schools (77%), public community colleges (75%), and four-year colleges and universities (65%) are all viewed favorably.

Despite these positive findings, more than two-thirds (69%) of respondents believed the pandemic caused a drop in the quality of higher education.

  • 87% believe colleges can do more to help students graduate.
  • 84% think college completers should be able to get jobs earning more than a high school graduate.

The bottom line: A large majority of voters believe that college is still worth it, but they want policymakers to put the spotlight on higher education value. That includes holding institutions accountable for ensuring students are better off when they graduate.

Read more: Voters Want Less Talk and More Action on Higher Ed Value

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