Students Left $3.6 Billion In Pell Grants Unclaimed Last Year

Graduating high school students left almost $3.6 billion in Pell Grant funds unclaimed last year because they did not complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). That is the finding of a new report from the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) out this week. The FAFSA is the federal form you must complete to be considered for any financial aid from the federal government, your state, or one of the colleges you hope to attend.

FAFSA completion rates are used as an indicator of whether students intend to enroll in college and often provide an early indication of what proportion of recent high school graduates plan on heading to college. FAFSA completion is also strongly associated with college enrollment, so increasing the number of students who complete their aid application may increase the number of students entering higher education.

NCAN calculated that 44 percent of the class of 2022 did not complete a FAFSA. Of that 44 percent, almost half are estimated to be eligible for a Pell Grant, with an average value of $4,686. That leaves a lot of students who could be getting help to pay for training in higher education without support. Some states are trying to change low completion rates with Mandatory FAFSA completion policies.

In recent years some states have instituted mandatory FAFSA completion policies that require students to submit the form as a graduation requirement or require that school districts do everything they can to help students complete the application. So far, eight states — California, Maryland, Louisiana, Illinois, Alabama, Colorado, New Hampshire, and Texas — have implemented FAFSA mandates. Early results from Louisiana, which was the first state to implement the requirement fully, have shown significant promise, with a large increase in the number of students who complete an application and narrowing the gap between students from high-income and low-income districts completing the form.

Why Is FAFSA Completion Important?

FAFSA asks students to provide detailed financial information for themselves (and their parents if they are younger than 24 or meet some narrow exceptions). After completing the application, students receive their Expected Family Contribution (EFC) number. This number plays a significant role in determining what types of financial aid they for and how much total financial aid a student can receive. The lower that number, the more types of aid and total aid dollars a student can qualify for, and vice versa.

Completing a FAFSA helps students see if they will qualify for federal financial aid, although it provides limited information about what state and institutional support they might be eligible for. Students typically have to wait for their financial aid offers to find out how much support they will get from the state and the colleges they have been admitted to.

Do More FAFSA Completions Mean More Students Go to College?

Completing a FAFSA does increase the chances that a student will go to college, but that fact is correlational. Students who completed the application were probably more likely to head to college in the first place. However, knowing there is help to pay for college also encourages enrollment if it comes with help applying for aid. Research has shown that when students receive help completing the FAFSA and receive information about financial aid, they are more likely to attend college. Students who complete a FAFSA and discover they are eligible for a Pell Grant are more likely to realize that they might be able to afford to attend college.

Completing the application, and doing it as early as possible, can also provide access to additional financial aid from state and institutional grant programs, which tend to have early deadlines, reducing the price of college even further.

Students need all the help they can get when it comes to paying for college. Given the current low rates of FAFSA completion, finding ways to increase the number of students applying for financial aid should be a priority for states.