Increasing FAFSA Completion Rates among Low-Income Students: Lessons from Four States That Are Doing It Well

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a form prepared annually by current and prospective college students (undergraduate and graduate) to determine their eligibility for student financial aid. Completing the FAFSA creates opportunities for more equitable access to higher education because it is a gateway for receiving the Pell Grant -- a federal grant reserved for low-income students -- and federal student loans, which have much lower interest rates than private loans. Despite the benefits of completing the form, low-income students often fail to do so because they are misinformed or completely uninformed about federal financial aid. There are only four states in which FAFSA completion rates both exceed the national completion rate and are higher in lower-income districts than in higher-income districts. Those states are California, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Nevada. The National College Access Network (NCAN) interviewed organizational leaders within each of these four states and analyzed each organization's online resources to understand how the states promote equitable FAFSA completion. NCAN's goal in this research is to help ensure more underserved students obtain the federal financial aid they need to attend college. Based on the findings, NCAN provides nine recommendations for increasing FAFSA completion rates among low-income students. [Contributors to this report include Allie Ciaramella and Carrie Warick.]