Credit: (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)Kean University senior Kamilla Gell said it would not have been possible for her to attend Kean without financial aid she received through the federal financial aid system known as FAFSA.
Now, she is helping high school juniors and seniors in the city of Passaic to complete the financial aid forms themselves, so they can have the same opportunities as she had.
“My entire school is paid for, which I honestly would have never thought would be possible,” Gell said. “Without FAFSA I definitely would not be where I am today and I would not have the education that I’m able to obtain with FAFSA.”
That promise of the FAFSA application process was hardly the norm over the last year, as the rollout of a new online form — promoted as the “Better FAFSA” — was marked by widespread glitches and delays nationwide.
And on a form that is soon to be required for high school graduation, the latest data indicates there was significant drop in completion rates for New Jersey’s high school Class of 2024, falling about 10% or roughly 7,000 fewer students than the year before.
Impact on college attendance
In New Jersey, 52.2% of all high school seniors completed the FAFSA by the end of the 2023-2024 school year, allowing them to tap into federal, state and school-specific aid to attend college. But that was a drop from 61.8% for the Class of 2023. Students who attended low-income or high-minority school districts saw even lower rates, according to the National College Attainment Network, a nonprofit that tracks FAFSA completions.
If history is any guide, that’s likely more than $100 million in Pell and other scholarships and grants not being made available to New Jersey students. In 2023, before the FAFSA problems, about $103 million in grants and scholarships was left untapped in New Jersey.
“That’s a lot of money that we know students are leaving on the table, either because they don’t think it’s safe, because it’s too hard to do, because they aren’t aware or because they’ve given up,” said Audrey Fisch, president of a nonprofit focused on access to higher education in the city of Passaic.
New Jersey is hardly alone. The nationwide FAFSA completion rate was down 11.2% compared to the end of the previous academic year, according to the national network. Less than half of the high school Class of 2024 completed the form.
In low-income and high-minority school districts nationwide, the completion rate fell around 13.3% percent. Students who could benefit from financial aid the most are less likely to apply for it, according to the national group.
‘A disaster for our students’
There is still time to complete the form, at least for some. The federal FAFSA deadline for the 2024-2025 school year is June 30, 2025. The state deadline for first-time college students is Sept. 15, 2024. However, many colleges and universities have their own deadlines, some of which have already passed.
Filing as early as possible helps students access aid that is offered on a first-come, first-served basis. It also gives students an idea of what college would cost them before the school year begins.
More than Bootstraps, Fisch’s Passaic-based nonprofit, is offering students support with filling out the form and letting them know that it’s not too late. The nonprofit’s efforts are focused on access to higher education for underrepresented, first-generation college students.
“Financial aid has always been challenging for first-generation students, but the ‘Better FAFSA’ was a disaster for our students,” Fisch said.
Her group launched its initiative at a graduation rehearsal in June to encourage students to fill out the FAFSA form before the end of the school year. The group connects recent high school graduates with current juniors and seniors in college to provide mentorship and assistance throughout the application process.
One-on-one help
Their efforts will continue over the summer with one-on-one sessions and community events. More Than Bootstraps collected students’ contact information at the graduation rehearsal to stay in touch and let them know that there are resources available.
Celine Lantigua Mateo, a Class of 2024 graduate from Passaic, said More Than Bootstraps helped answer all her questions about the form, which prepared her to explain the process to her mom, who speaks only Spanish. Now, Lantigua Mateo is helping other students with FAFSA as she gets ready to study computer science at Felician University.
U.S. Department of Education officials say they are working hard to make sure the FAFSA for the Class of 2025 will be available and operational this Oct. 1.
Melissa Reyes, a mentor also from Passaic who now attends Dartmouth College, said she felt responsible for learning about FAFSA as the oldest of eight siblings in a household with mixed citizenship status. Reyes said she needed to reassure her parents that it was safe to complete FAFSA without worrying about deportation. She now uses her own experience to help other families with similar concerns.
Camden and Newark also made extra efforts to increase completion rates amid the turbulent rollout of the new federal aid form. The two cities participated in a “FAFSA Challenge” to see which city could get the highest FAFSA completion rate.
Newark won the challenge, with a 55% completion rate compared to Camden’s 48%. Nonetheless, $70,000 is going to high schools in both cities for their efforts, funded by the New Jersey Children’s Foundation and the Camden Education Fund.
Unlocking critical aid
Giana Campbell, executive director of the Camden Education Fund, said the rivalry provided students with some extra motivation to complete the FAFSA despite the hiccups and delays. She said completion rates are down about 15% to 25% at each of the high schools in the district compared to this time last year.
The Camden Education Fund is continuing to raise awareness about the importance of completing FAFSA over the summer and looking toward repeating the FAFSA challenge next year.
“We want all students to have an opportunity to unlock that critical financial aid which for our students, in a lot of cases, could be the difference of going to a two- or four-year college or not going at all,” Campbell said.
Newark Public Schools began requiring students to complete FAFSA or the New Jersey Alternative Financial Aid Application to graduate, beginning with the Class of 2022. A study conducted by Rutgers University-Newark found completion rates rose to 62% in September 2022, an increase from 50% in 2020.
Completing FAFSA as a graduation requirement is next going statewide, starting with the Class of 2025, although there will be some flexibility for students to opt out.
States with laws that require high school students to complete FAFSA before graduation had some of the highest completion rates in the current application cycle, according to the National College Attainment Network.
U.S. Department of Education officials say they are working hard to make sure the FAFSA for the Class of 2025 will be available and operational on Oct. 1 this year.
