The U.S. Department of Education has awarded the Arizona Board of Regents $1 million to aid in the board’s push to increase FAFSA completion in the state after Arizona was ranked 50th in the nation for form submission.
The FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, allows students to qualify for Pell Grants and other federal financial aid programs which often open doors for low-income students to attend postsecondary institutions.
The money is meant to enhance FAFSA completion efforts through this summer and is administered by the Educational Credit Management Corporation. It is a part of the federal FAFSA Student Support Strategy program, a $50 million nationwide initiative aimed at increasing FAFSA completions.
“These additional funds have allowed us to scale our efforts, assist more students and families,” said Junie Sainz, director of FAFSA and college access initiatives at ABOR.
Just 36% of Arizona’s high school seniors have filled out the FAFSA this year, according to the National College Attainment Network. That number lags behind the national percentage, which sits at 53%.
Gov. Katie Hobbs also committed a one-time $500,000 grant to the program. She previously declared April the “Finish Line to the FAFSA” month and created a chatbot called “Hi Benji” that students can text at 602-786-8171 for free digital assistance.
The FAFSA was overhauled this year after Congress ordered the U.S. Department of Education to make widespread changes to the system. The goal was to make it easier to fill out and to give better access to low-income families, but repeated delays occurred after the department incorrectly calculated the aid for students and possibly mishandled Pell Grants.
In February, the Arizona Board of Regents voted to extend its FAFSA priority deadline for the state’s public universities from April 1 to May 1 in an effort to encourage applications.
These issues disproportionately impact first-generation, low-income and mixed-status families which are prevalent in Arizona.
There has been a 13% decrease in low-income and minority students filling out the FAFSA this year, according to the National College Attainment Network.
Education Forward Arizona, an organization that works on postsecondary educational attainment, has repeatedly tied FAFSA completion and postsecondary attainment to the economy in an effort to promote their cause.
The organization claims that Arizona could increase its annual economic gains by $5 billion if it’s able to increase postsecondary enrollment by 20%, due to increased “lifetime earnings, improved health, reduced crime and welfare spending and increased workforce productivity.”
“Those students who demonstrate the most need for the supports/funding accessed only by completing the FAFSA will end up being the ones who are hurt the most by the challenges and barriers that have been put in front of them this year,” said Education Forward Arizona President and CEO Rich Nickel. “Not only will we see far fewer students complete and submit a FAFSA this year, those who will be hurt the most are the ones that we must encourage to enroll at greater rates in postsecondary education, if we are able to meet our attainment goals.”
To make it encourage form completion, ABOR and its partners have set up regional FAFSA workshops staffed by experts, expanded hours and support for virtual one-on-one FAFSA assistance appointments, along with the Arizona FAFSA hotline, created a partnership with 12 high school districts statewide to provide gap funding and begun a statewide social media and marketing campaign, which has featured radio, print and billboard advertisements across all 15 Arizona counties.
“Our coalition partners and high school districts have been exceptional over the past few months, playing an instrumental role in carrying out this critical work and providing much-needed support to Arizona students and their families,” said Sainz of ABOR.
The campaign’s launch has been relatively successful. Arizona has seen a nearly 30 percent change increase in FAFSA completions among high school seniors, according to ABOR, with about 17,000 additional students successfully completing the form.
