Bill DeBaun, Author at Form Your Future

3 More States Add FAFSA Completion as a Requirement for High School Graduation

Posted on August 3, 2021June 15, 2022 by Bill DeBaun

By Raymond AlQaisi, Policy and Advocacy Manager, National College Attainment Network

In an apparent resurgence to the growing “mandatory FAFSA” movement, three new states – Alabama, California, and Colorado – have adopted policies that will make completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) a high school graduation requirement.

In 2020, more than a dozen states were considering mandatory FAFSA policies but ultimately did not pass them, with no new adoptions last year – following the onset of the severe COVID-19 pandemic.

The basis for mandatory FAFSA policies is that completion of the aid form is the strongest predictor of college enrollment. Students are more likely to pursue higher education when they are aware of the financial resources available to them. Given this, NCAN supports mandatory FAFSA policies when adequate supports are provided to students in the process – among other important considerations for such policies to be effective.

Illinois is the last state to have adopted the policy, and at the time, when ranked nationally, was among the top 10 states for FAFSA completion. This cycle, Illinois is in the top five 5; 66% of the high school senior class has so far completed the federal financial aid form. Illinois is also currently among a handful of states that have seen increased FAFSA completion as compared to last year.

NCAN’s latest reporting that shows FAFSA completion for high school seniors is down significantly, which presents great concerns for college access. The national completion rate has declined by roughly 5% from the year prior, as of July 16, amounting to over a quarter-million fewer FAFSAs filed since 2019.

Reasonably, states are seeking ways to counteract these trends and mandatory FAFSA is a promising answer.

Alabama

In April, Alabama’s state board of education approved the adoption of mandatory FAFSA to take effect for the high school graduating class of 2022. Notably, this is a short timeline for the state to ask districts to implement, as other states have provided at least one year before their policies would take effect.

According to reports, the state board assures that the ability for a student to opt out and graduate is simple, though it will require completion of a waiver form. With support from state leaders, including Governor Kay Ivey, the policy is intended to help the state reach its goals for postsecondary attainment and workforce development.

Some individuals have raised concerns about the state ensuring students have the support they need to complete the FAFSA. Alabama Possible, an NCAN member, celebrated the policy’s enactment but has publicly called for the state to provide what is necessary for it to be successful.

Chandra Scott, executive director of Alabama Possible, wrote that “funding must follow this critical new policy to make sure that schools can provide the needed supports to students and families to make sure that those who will benefit most will be able to fulfill the graduation requirement and complete the FAFSA.”

California

At the end of June, California enacted its 2021-22 state budget, which included such a FAFSA requirement to begin the 2022-23 academic year.

California, in a first to take this approach, is placing the “requirement” on local educational agencies (LEAs) to confirm that their seniors (those who have not opted out) complete either the FAFSA or California Dream Act Application. The state ensures that students’ ability to graduate will not be negatively impacted by opting out. Additionally, to facilitate the process, California will issue further guidance and standardized forms for LEAs.

Colorado

Last month, the Colorado state legislature passed the Higher Education Student Success bill which included such a requirement.

The law establishes a grant program for LEAs that choose to adopt the requirement, supplementing efforts to assist students in FAFSA completion. Notably, the funding attached that drives this requirement is a unique approach and will help ensure students are well-supported for future FAFSA cycles.

The bill text cites support for partnerships between LEAs, higher education institutions, and community-based organizations that all play a role in students’ FAFSA process; and says that the program will support postsecondary attainment, considering the pandemic’s severe economic impacts.

FAFSA Completion Declines Nearly 5%; Nation Loses 270K FAFSAs Since 2019

Posted on July 22, 2021June 15, 2022 by Bill DeBaun

By Bill DeBaun, Director of Data and Evaluation, National College Attainment Network

Key Takeaways:

Students must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to access federal grants and loans, as well as many types of state and institutional financial aid.
By July 2, the high school class of 2021 completed 4.8% fewer FAFSAs than the class of 2020. In other words, about 102,000 fewer seniors completed a FAFSA this year.
An estimated 53.3% of the class of 2021 completed a FAFSA by July 2.
Across the classes of 2020 and 2021, more than a quarter-million fewer seniors completed a FAFSA than we would have expected, due to the pandemic.
Schools with higher concentrations of students of color and students from low-income backgrounds saw greater declines in FAFSA completion.
These figures could indicate more enrollment declines for fall 2021. Last year’s catastrophic enrollment declines came on the heels of a smaller FAFSA completion decline.

We warned that FAFSA completion would be bad because we knew it would be bad, and in the end: it’s bad.

The end of June is an important milestone for understanding a high school graduating class’s progress toward Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion. Through July 2 this year, the closest date we have to June 30, the high school class of 2021 completed 4.8% fewer FAFSAs than the class of 2020; this amounts to about 102,000 fewer FAFSA completions. An estimated 53.3% of the class of 2021 completed a FAFSA by July 2, down 2.5 percentage points from last year.

NCAN tracks FAFSA completion data through the Form Your Future FAFSA Tracker, updated weekly from Oct. 1 to June 30 and monthly over the summer.

In terms of year-over-year completions, the class of 2021 has trailed the class of 2020 all cycle. Things hit rock bottom at the end of November when the decline hit a whopping -16.8%. Since then, the class of 2021 clawed its way to within 5% but only after a very slow trudge to the finish line; the class of 2021 clawed back just 1.3% between April 23 and July 2.

It is possible that the class of 2021 could continue to close the gap over the summer; time will tell.

By June 30 of last year, the class of 2020 had about 81,000 fewer FAFSA completions than the class of 2019. The class of 2021 had about 190,000 fewer FAFSA completions compared to 2019. Across the classes of 2020 and 2021, more than a quarter-million fewer seniors completed a FAFSA than we would have expected absent the pandemic.

These figures portend a potentially rough postsecondary enrollment landscape for the fall 2021 semester. The catastrophic enrollment declines reported on by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center came on the heels of a smaller FAFSA completion decline last year (-3.4%) and a larger percentage of seniors completing the FAFSA (55.8%).

Just like the postsecondary enrollment declines above, decreases in FAFSA completion were inequitably distributed, and students of color and students from low-income backgrounds were more negatively affected.

Among Title I-eligible public high schools, which enroll higher proportions of students from low-income backgrounds, FAFSA completions declined 6.5% compared to 3.7% for non-Title I-eligible public high schools.

For schools with more than 40% Black and Hispanic students, the decline was 8.1% compared to 2.2% in schools with less Black and Hispanic enrollment.

Public high schools in cities (-6.6%) and small towns (-7%) declined the most, followed by schools in rural places (-5.5%) and suburban high schools (-4.2%).

Beyond the national landscape, the Form Your Future FAFSA Tracker also considers state-level performance. Looking at the top five states by percent of the senior class completing offers some familiar faces. Louisiana (73.7%) reclaimed the top spot from Tennessee (71.6%) with Washington, D.C. (66.0%), Illinois (65.7%), and New Jersey (64.3%) rounding out the top five.

Illinois is the only newcomer to that top five this year, and it also very impressively makes an appearance to the top five by year-over-year change because it finished up 5% compared to last year. Puerto Rico (+5.6%), Wyoming (+5%), and South Dakota (+2%) are the only other states or territories with more FAFSA completions this year than last, which paints a dismal picture of performance nationally.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Two things are true at this point. First, it isn’t too late for students to complete a FAFSA for the 2021-22 academic year and to pursue a postsecondary pathway this fall. Second, college-going isn’t like a light switch, and students who have not completed key college-going milestones by now or who don’t over the summer will be less likely to pursue and complete a postsecondary pathway.

States are, and have been, stepping in to spur FAFSA completion. Consider chatbots like Arizona’s Benji and Washington’s Otterbot. Other states like Michigan have included FAFSA completion as priorities in statewide plans.

NCAN members and the school districts they work with and adjacent to have a role to play as well. The Washington Post covered some of the creative approaches employed last year. NCAN also maintains a robust FAFSA Resource Library that is free to the public.

So much is different about this point in time in the United States compared to the same time last year. Vaccines are spurring a return to normalcy. Infection and death rates are both, thankfully, down. Still, consider what I wrote on the NCAN blog a year ago:

“Even in a ‘normal’ year, students of color, first-generation students, and students from low-income backgrounds need moral and technical support to complete key milestones toward a postsecondary pathway; it will take a tremendous and concerted effort from K-12, postsecondary, and community-based stakeholders to assist these students. There is still sizable uncertainty about what the fall will look like on college campuses (or in virtual classrooms) across the country. NCAN members can help students navigate that certainty and stay on the pathway toward postsecondary attainment.”

Given the declines experienced by the class of 2021, all of the above remains painfully, urgently true. We still have a lot of work to do.

5 Noteworthy FAFSA Trends: New Federal Student Aid Data for 2018-19 and 2019-20 Cycles

Posted on July 19, 2021June 15, 2022 by Bill DeBaun

By Raymond AlQaisi, Policy and Advocacy Manager, National College Attainment Network

After five years of declining total filers for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the 1% year-over-year increase in filers during the 2017-18 cycle was a bright spot for FAFSA completion. With the release of data on the demographics of FAFSA filers for the two most recent completed FAFSA cycles – 2018-19 and 2019-20 – it is now possible to examine whether the upward trend in FAFSA completion continued. Unfortunately, the two most recent FAFSA cycles demonstrate a return to overall declines in FAFSA filing.

FAFSA completion is a strong indicator of intended and eventual postsecondary enrollment. While the Great Recession prompted many to enroll (or re-enroll) in higher education, it was expected that the uptick in college-going might level out, since the recovery years had a relatively stronger economy and lower unemployment. As predicted, FAFSA filing dropped in all but one of the eight years following the recession.

Notably, positive changes to the FAFSA process contributed to the 2017-18 bump in overall completion. First, the use of prior-prior year tax information on the FAFSA meant that applicants could use already filed taxes from a year earlier. Secondly, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) began offering the FAFSA form three months sooner: on Oct. 1 rather than Jan. 1.

For the 2017-18 cycle, the roughly 1% increase in FAFSA completions represented over 228,000 additional filers.

However, as you can see in the chart below, new data for two recent cycles show a steady but continued decrease in FAFSA filing – both at a rate of -2% over the previous year. Note that these FAFSA cycles have minimal overlap with the COVID-19 pandemic.

We sifted through the large quantities of data that Federal Student Aid released about the 2018-19 and 2019-20 FAFSA cycles. Based on our analysis, here are five key FAFSA trends for the college access and success field, policymakers, and other education leaders.

1. More FAFSA filers are using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.

The latest data show that a larger percentage of FAFSA filers are using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) to transfer financial information to their application. As the chart below shows, roughly half (52%) of FAFSA filers used the DRT in the two most recent cycles. The DRT makes the FAFSA process much simpler and reduces the likelihood that FAFSA filers will be selected for verification, the audit-like process of proving that information included on a FAFSA is accurate.

Unfortunately, data for the 2017-18 cycle was omitted here because during the peak of the FAFSA filing season there was a security breach that prompted the IRS to remove the Data Retrieval Tool option from the FAFSA.

A larger uptake in DRT usage is an encouraging development, as it reduces the time needed to complete the FAFSA and eases the process for students. It also demonstrates the value of the FUTURE Act, passed into law in December 2019. When implemented fully for the 2024-25 academic year, the FUTURE Act will allow all FAFSA filers to use an improved version of IRS data transfer.

2. FAFSA completion is down among filers of all ages.

The chart below shows that, up until the two most recent cycles, the trends in FAFSA filing tracked very closely between filers of different ages. As filing decreased among younger filers, it decreased at a very similar rate for older filers.

FAFSA filing was down for all age groups for the past two cycles, but the “19-24” and “25 and up” age groups experience a more acute decline in the 2018-19 cycle. The “18 or less” age group experienced a second year of small increase in 2018-19, but then a more parallel decline to the older age groups in the 2019-20 cycle.

Note that these age groups are based on the birthdate filers report on the FAFSA and are not directly comparable to NCAN’s #FormYourFuture FAFSA Tracker, which reports on high school seniors who complete the FAFSA. Multiple factors are used to filter for high school seniors in data reporting, and the FAFSA does not ask applicants about their high school graduation year.

3. First-generation students make up a smaller share of FAFSA completers.

The new data show that, over time, students who are first in their families to attend college are comprising a lesser share of FAFSA completers. These results by themselves are not sufficient to draw alarming conclusions. This trend may be driven by changes in demographics – i.e., as a greater share of Americans have attained a college degree, fewer postsecondary students will be defined as the first in their families to attend higher education.

Nevertheless, first-generation students represent nearly half of filers (i.e., potential college-goers) and are a significant student population for education stakeholders to consider in efforts to raise college attainment rates.

4. FAFSA filers are listing more higher education institutions on their aid applications.

NCAN members, such as the College Advising Corps, recommend that students list at least four schools on the FAFSA to broaden their postsecondary options. Positively, the recent data show that this approach is becoming more prevalent.

The past few FAFSA cycles show a considerable increase in the percentage of freshmen who are filing their application to four or more institutions – and relatedly an apparent decrease in the percentage filing to one institution. The FAFSA process changes of prior-prior year tax data and a longer period to file the aid form coincide with more students filing their FAFSA to more institutions. These data show success in that students are considering more options for college enrollment.

Once we have data for FAFSA cycles impacted by the pandemic, this trend will be one to follow. If more students are only listing one institution, it could mean they are perhaps overlooking match or fit in their college search or have other considerations, such as attending an institution closer to home.

5. Federal COVID relief funds can be used to support FAFSA completion.

Given these trends, FAFSA completion should be a top priority for education leaders. NCAN recommends that states and school districts use recently distributed federal COVID-19 response funding to support FAFSA completion.

In total, Congress has appropriated more than $190 billion in aid to K-12 education to provide relief, promote recovery, and prevent learning loss. Considering the federal government spends about $80 billion annually on elementary and secondary education, these funds represent a massive investment and commitment to students and schools.

They also represent a tremendous opportunity to provide students with support that can keep them on the pathway to postsecondary education. K-12 districts and schools are permitted to use these funds broadly, and NCAN’s sincere hope is that many local education agencies will invest these funds in college and career readiness activities.

NCAN’s community-based organizations and nonprofit members should make themselves readily available to provide supports wherever possible.

Please see these NCAN resources for more information: Blog: K-12 and CBOs Should Use Federal Funding to Spur Partnerships, Help Students and Webinar: How CBOs Can Leverage ARP Funds to Support Students.

Author’s note: The data analysis and charts herein are based on NCAN’s calculations, using the “FAFSA Data by Demographic Characteristics” Cycle reports – data available via the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid. (Data accessed in June 2021.)

NCAN Members Find Ways to Offer FAFSA Assistance, Despite COVID Barriers

Posted on March 3, 2021June 15, 2022 by Bill DeBaun

By Ainsley Ash, NCAN Communications Intern

Anyone in the college access and success space knows Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion is crucial to increasing the odds that a student will pursue postsecondary education. According to one study, 92% of high school seniors who completed the FAFSA enrolled by the November following graduation, versus 51% who did not complete a FAFSA.

FAFSA completion numbers are way down for the high school class of 2021, and states are responding by ramping up their efforts to assist students.

According to NCAN’s #FormYourFuture FAFSA Tracker, only 39.9% of the class of 2021 has completed the FAFSA, as of Feb. 19. That’s about 9% less than the previous academic year.

As the end of the school year draws closer, it will be a race against the clock for districts to increase their FAFSA completion numbers before students graduate and potentially become more difficult to contact.

Here are some strong examples of the work that organizations across the country are doing to increase FAFSA completion rates.

Implementing State- and District-Level FAFSA Challenges

The Michigan College Access Network (MCAN) organizes the College Cash Campaign. A major component of this campaign is to create a competition that encourages high schools to reach at least 75% FAFSA completion. MCAN has a comprehensive list of recommendations for how individual schools can increase their FAFSA numbers. They include examples such as hosting FAFSA nights, publicly tracking FAFSA goal progress within high schools, and offering incentives to students.

MCAN is certainly not the only NCAN member sponsoring a statewide FAFSA campaign. Take the Florida College Access Network, for example. Their statewide FAFSA initiative aims to reward schools whose yearly FAFSA completion rates increase by at least 5 percentage points.

[See a list of other states that have implemented challenges to boost FAFSA completion.]

Of course, statewide organizations are not the only ones that can launch FAFSA challenges.

In the fall, the School District of Lancaster launched a FAFSA completion campaign filled with FAFSA days, one-on-one meetings, and a “FAFSA Phone Blitz,” during which parents received phone calls asking them to schedule FAFSA appointments.

Similarly, Baltimore City Public Schools uses a FAFSA Tracker, managed and created by Chiefs for Change, that shows the leaderboard for each school’s FAFSA completion rates. The district encouraged students to register for their virtual “FAFSA Fest,” which took place last week. During the event, students and their families received one-on-one FAFSA assistance and were entered into a raffle to win prizes.

Utilizing Student-Level FAFSA Completion Data

Most states have the ability to share student-level FAFSA completion data with districts, which can be distributed to schools to identify which students have completed the financial aid form.

NCAN member Iowa College Aid has utilized these data so well that every public high school in the state automatically receives this information. In this article, Iowa College Aid details how they set up this data-sharing process.

Once a school or educational organization has access to student-level FAFSA completion data, this information can make the process of identifying and assisting individual students much more efficient and effective.

Offering Virtual FAFSA Assistance

In another effort to meet the needs of more individual students, many organizations are adapting to serve students virtually. Online financial aid assistance offers a safe and effective way to reach students and their families.

The Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance is now offering virtual office hours and email communication to help students complete their FAFSA.

Other organizations are taking large-scale, often schoolwide events online. For instance, the Connecticut Association of Professional Financial Aid Administrators and the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority have transitioned to hosting virtual FAFSA days for students in their states.

Broward County Public Schools in Florida has hosted a number of virtual FAFSA completion assistance events throughout the 2020-21 school year. You can learn Hosting FAFSA Drive-Insmore about how the district planned these events and recruited volunteers for support on the NCAN blog.

Hosting FAFSA Drive-Ins

NCAN member Get2College has hosted several successful FAFSA drive-in events for students in Mississippi. College access organizations in Arizona are doing the same thing.

Essentially, families drive up to an outdoor location, remain in their cars, and are assisted by a socially distant staff member. These drive-in FAFSA sessions are similar to pre-pandemic ones, albeit a little bit more high tech – complete with tablets, mobile hotspots, and generators.

These practices can certainly be reproduced and modified to fit the needs of specific college attainment organizations and communities. For NCAN members working to support the class of 2021, FAFSA completion efforts such as these can be the difference in whether or not a student unlocks thousands of financial aid dollars and, ultimately, enrolls in college.

(FAFSA drive-in event image courtesy of Woodward Hines Education Foundation)

FAFSA Completions Bounce in December, Still Down 12.3%

Posted on January 7, 2021January 7, 2021 by Bill DeBaun

By Bill DeBaun, Director of Data and Evaluation, NCAN

FAFSA completions for the high school class of 2021 have lagged last year by double-digit percentages since October. But a strong December saw completions gain back 4.5% in an encouraging development for an otherwise disastrous cycle.

On Nov. 27, the 2021-22 FAFSA cycle hit its low point of -16.8% FAFSA completions compared to the 2020-21 cycle on the same date. On Dec. 25, the 2021-22 FAFSA cycle was at -12.3%.

These numbers come from NCAN’s analysis of data from Federal Student Aid presented on the Form Your Future FAFSA Tracker, which is updated weekly throughout the FAFSA cycle.

The Tracker examines FAFSA completion at the national, state, city, district, and school levels. For the U.S. and each state, the Tracker computes both an estimated percentage of the current senior class that has completed a FAFSA and a year-over-year percent change.

As of Dec. 25, NCAN estimates that 29.9% of the class of 2021 completed a FAFSA. The top states by percentage completion were Illinois (45.3%), Washington, D.C. (45.2%), New Jersey (41.7%), Tennessee (41.1%), and Kentucky (36.4%).

The percent change metric is much grimmer. As of Dec. 25, no state has more FAFSAs completed than at the same point last year. Georgia (-1.2%) and Hawaii (-1.3%) have the smallest decreases.

There continues to be a worryingly inequitable aspect of FAFSA completion nationally. Title I-eligible public high schools have FAFSA completion declines of -15.5%, compared to -9.6% for non-Title I-eligible public high schools. High-minority public high schools, defined as having 40% or more Black and Hispanic students, have FAFSA completion declines of -17.8%, compared to -7.6% for low-minority high schools. Public high schools in rural places and small towns continue to have much larger FAFSA completion declines than their urban and suburban counterparts.

With the FAFSA Tracker, users can look at national data, examine state profiles that are sortable by city, district, and school, and compare cycle-over-cycle data nationally and by state.

NCAN continues to monitor FAFSA completion closely and will update the FAFSA Tracker through the rest of the cycle. Those with questions, comments, concerns, or requests for specific data pulls can contact Bill DeBaun, NCAN’s director of data and evaluation, at debaunb@ncan.org.

Get2College’s Advice for Planning and Hosting a Drive-In FAFSA Completion Event

Posted on October 22, 2020January 7, 2021 by Bill DeBaun

By Jamese Carrell, Member Services Associate

A FAFSA drive-in was the talk of the virtual town at this year’s NCAN 2020 conference. And because of all the excitement around this type of event, we wanted to share with the larger network the inspiration and planning it will take to develop a drive-in event within your community.

To learn all about this type of event, we sat down with Get2College staff members Shannon Grimsley, outreach program director, and Danny Thompson, assistant director of GEAR UP outreach. Get2College is a program of the Woodward Hines Education Foundation in Mississippi and an NCAN member.

So what exactly is a FAFSA drive-in? In four short bullet points, here’s the best way to explain it:

The FAFSA drive-in will happen in an outdoor school space with strict COVID-19 guidelines. Appointments will be 45 minutes each.
Families will drive up (stay in their cars) to a tent and be greeted by a staff member, who will be socially distant.
Staff will conduct a FAFSA appointment similar to how they would in a normal (pre-pandemic) setting. Families will either be provided a tablet or laptop for screen-sharing to complete the FAFSA, which will be projected on a screen so that Get2College staff can monitor the responses.
Families and students will leave the appointment with newly created FSA IDs, (if not already pre-created) and a completed Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and Mississippi Aid Application (MAAPP).

Here’s what else you need to know about planning and hosting a drive-in FAFSA event:

What sparked the FAFSA drive-in idea?

This idea was born out of Get2College’s awareness of high student need and much of what they already knew about Mississippi students in rural areas and beyond, i.e., lack of access to stable internet and/or caring adults with financial aid application knowledge.

“We know how important it is to these students. They need this or they wouldn’t go to college,” says Thompson.

What was the planning process like?

When the idea for the drive-in workshop was shared and discussed, TJ Walker, director of the North MS Get2College Center, volunteered to pilot the drive-in at one of his area schools. Determining the location was easy; Walker had a pre-established relationship with the piloting high school. The staff knew transportation was a major barrier, so it was important to host the event in a central and accessible location.

Walker also cast a wide net to recruit staff members. Due to COVID-19, staff participation for this event was voluntary. Walker also sourced the group of staff volunteers to ask what supplies were needed, to really brainstorm and cross-check that they would have everything they needed to make the event successful.

What types of resources does it take to implement this type of event?

This FAFSA drive-in will take a place in a high school’s open parking lot area to maintain social distancing and other COVID-related precautions to ensure the safety of staff volunteers, students, and families. Below you’ll see a snapshot list of supplies needed to conduct a drive-in. Please note: This is not a finalized list, but rather a place to get started and items to consider. A major consideration is to determine materials needed for an outdoor event in your area, as weather conditions vary during fall across the nation.

Supply List (this list is not an exhaustive list):

Surge protectors
Paper
Tables
Chairs
Folders
Heat/cooling mechanisms
Face masks
Hand Sanitizer
Disinfectant wipes
Gloves

Bigger-Ticket Items:

Mobile Hotspots
Tents
Generators
Printer(s)
Face shields
Laptops (or tablets)

What types of communications and marketing will you use to get the word out about the event?

The key to this work, particularly in rural areas, is relationships. Get2College staff cites the support of city officials, mayors, and school boards, who are helping to get the word out and secure buy-in for participation from families. The rural communities are tight-knit and they know what works.

For other communications during FAFSA season, Get2College uses Signal Vine, postcards, and social media – they even have FAFSA and social media toolkits (free for anyone to use).

What advice would you give to NCAN members who want to hold a FAFSA drive-in?

The first would be tap into partnerships. From our time speaking with Get2College, it was clear partnerships really helped scale their work and efforts. Find the trusted places and people in the communities of the families you are trying to reach.

Also, recognize that completing a FAFSA requires sharing sensitive financial information, so here’s where that trust aspect comes in again. Be sure to use communications and messages that create a sense of security and care.

We are appreciative to have been able to spend time with Get2College to get a sneak peek of this innovative FAFSA completion event and wish them a successful drive-in later this month.

For more coverage of Get2College’s drive-in FAFSA plans, check out this story from the Washington Post.