{"id":4982,"date":"2020-02-07T06:52:32","date_gmt":"2020-02-07T06:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/2020\/02\/07\/legislation-aims-to-increase-fafsa-completion\/"},"modified":"2022-09-27T19:49:26","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T19:49:26","slug":"legislation-aims-to-increase-fafsa-completion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/legislation-aims-to-increase-fafsa-completion\/","title":{"rendered":"Legislation aims to increase FAFSA completion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text animation=&#8221;fadeInRight&#8221;]<a href=\"https:\/\/apps.legislature.ky.gov\/record\/20rs\/hb87.html\">House Bill 87<\/a> of the 2020 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly aims to increase the number of students completing the FAFSA \u2013 the Free Application for Federal Student Aid \u2013 by making it a high school graduation requirement.<\/p>\n<p>The legislation would allow waivers of the requirement under certain circumstance for hardship or if a student\/parent certifies they understand the FAFSA and are choosing not to fill it out.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsl.org\/blog\/2019\/12\/10\/states-looking-at-ways-to-promote-fafsa-completion.aspx\">several states<\/a> \u2013 including Louisiana, Texas, and Illinois \u2013 have adopted requirements similar to what is being proposed in House Bill 87.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/news\/2019\/07\/10\/texas-becomes-second-state-require-fafsa-completion\">Louisiana saw a 25%<\/a> increase in completions after implementing the change, but it is not all attributed to the requirement.\u00a0 Louisiana took a multi-pronged approach including peer-support programs, one-on-one assistance for students and families, phone-call reminders, and completion incentives.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text animation=&#8221;fadeInRight&#8221;]A multi-pronged approach, with resources to match, is likely the key to success and addressing some of the concerns we have heard expressed, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A non-academic requirement for graduation substantially out of a student\u2019s control.<\/li>\n<li>Adequate counseling supports to ensure students and families have the assistance necessary to complete and interpret the FAFSA \u2013 especially those from underrepresented populations.<\/li>\n<li>Opt-out considerations for student populations that may be undocumented, going into the military, or straight into the workforce.<\/li>\n<li>Adequate data tracking to see the potential success of the policy or unintended consequences, such as an increase in student debt from students who do not complete a credential.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text animation=&#8221;fadeInRight&#8221;]Some experts \u2013 while supporting such policy shifts \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2019\/09\/30\/3-states-will-require-you-to-file-a-fafsa-to-graduate-from-high-school.html\">say it\u2019s too early<\/a> to tell if the graduation requirements is the best path forward.\u00a0 At least not from the limited experience in one state. \u00a0Even so, policy shifts in how students gain access to financial aid are likely necessary to increase FAFSA completion rates.\u00a0 The <a href=\"https:\/\/west.edtrust.org\/financial-aid-toolbox\/\">Education Trust \u2013 West<\/a> has developed a \u201cfinancial aid tool box\u201d to help policymakers and school leaders in understanding how best to support success and access to financial aid.<\/p>\n<p>With this legislation moving through the process, it seems a good time to discuss the importance of the FAFSA, where Kentucky stands now with completion, and efforts to increase FAFSA completion rates.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text animation=&#8221;fadeInRight&#8221;]<strong><u>Why is the FAFSA Important?<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The FAFSA is the gateway to financial aid for most students pursuing postsecondary education. This includes federal aid such as student loans and Pell grants, need-based state aid administered by the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA), and a variety of\u00a0assistance provided\u00a0directly by postsecondary institutions.<\/p>\n<p>With\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ticas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/classof2018.pdf\">an increasing reliance on debt to cover rising college costs<\/a>, it is more important than ever for students and families\u00a0to\u00a0complete the FAFSA to access\u00a0financial aid that\u00a0will\u00a0assist in making postsecondary education more affordable.<\/p>\n<p>FAFSA completion is <a href=\"https:\/\/collegeaccess.org\/page\/WhyInvestFAFSA\">a significant indicator<\/a> of postsecondary enrollment.\u00a0 Plus, those who do not miss out on the opportunity to access a more affordable postsecondary education.\u00a0 According to one recent\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nerdwallet.com\/blog\/2018-fafsa-study\/\">analysis,<\/a>\u00a0Kentucky students potentially miss out on over $30 million in federal Pell grants by\u00a0not completing the FAFSA \u2013 grants worth up to $6,195 annually per student.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text animation=&#8221;fadeInRight&#8221;]In Kentucky, the main\u00a0need-based, state-financial aid programs require a FAFSA and are funded on a first-come, first-serve basis.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kheaa.com\/website\/kheaa\/cap?main=1\"><strong>College Access Program\u00a0(CAP)\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>provides up to $2,000 annually for undergraduate students to attend eligible public and private colleges and universities, proprietary schools and technical colleges.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kheaa.com\/website\/kheaa\/ktg?main=1\"><strong>Kentucky Tuition Grant (KTG)<\/strong><\/a>provides up to $3,000 annually for aid to help Kentucky residents attend in-state eligible private colleges.<\/li>\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kheaa.com\/website\/kheaa\/work_ready?main=1\"><strong>Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship Program (WRKS<\/strong><\/a><strong>)<\/strong> provides \u201clast dollar\u201d financial assistance after other federal and state aid is applied up to the equivalent of in-state tuition and fees at the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. This program provides aid for postsecondary students seeking an industry recognized certificate, diploma, or Associate of Applied Science degree in a high-demand workforce sector.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text animation=&#8221;fadeInRight&#8221;]<strong><u>How Many Kentucky Students Complete the FAFSA?<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to the most recent <a href=\"https:\/\/kystats.ky.gov\/Latest\/HSFR\">Kentucky High School Feedback Reports<\/a> produced by KY STATS, the statewide FAFSA completion rate for public high school graduates is 73%.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, Kentucky has consistently been above average nationally for FAFSA completion. According to data from the National College Access Network, Kentucky ranked 13<sup>th<\/sup> nationally for completions in the 2019-2020 cycle \u2013 and currently ranks 7<sup>th<\/sup> nationally for completions in the 2020-2021 cycle.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Department of Education has a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/studentaid.ed.gov\/sa\/about\/data-center\/student\/application-volume\/fafsa-completion-high-school\">data tool<\/a>\u00a0that allows students, families and school\u00a0administrators to track in real time the FAFSA completions in their high schools and school districts.\u00a0 Below is the completion rate map for Kentucky for the 2019-20 FAFSA cycle.\u00a0 This tool can help inform school and community leaders about how their outreach efforts are succeeding.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text animation=&#8221;fadeInRight&#8221;]<strong><u>Why Don\u2019t Students Fill Out FAFSA?<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to research from the <a href=\"https:\/\/nces.ed.gov\/pubs2018\/2018061.pdf\">National Center for Education Statistics<\/a>, there are a number of reasons why students and their families may not complete the FAFSA.\u00a0 As seen in the table below, these reasons ranged from lack of information to concerns about affordability.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; image=&#8221;9887&#8243; animation=&#8221;slideInUp&#8221;][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text animation=&#8221;fadeInRight&#8221;]This same research shows variations in reasons for not completing by level of parental education, race, and socioeconomic status.\u00a0 Some highlights from overall findings also include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Larger percentages of White and Hispanic students did not complete (25%) compared to Black students (19%)<\/li>\n<li>A larger percentage of students in the lowest socioeconomic quintile (29 percent) did not complete the FAFSA compared to students in the middle three-fifths and in the highest fifth of SES (23 and 22 percent, respectively)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text animation=&#8221;fadeInRight&#8221;]<strong><u>What are Current Efforts to Encourage FAFSA Completion in Kentucky?<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are a number of resources available to help guide students and their families through the FAFSA process from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kheaa.com\/website\/kheaa\/pay_fafsa?main=1\">Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority<\/a> (KHEAA)\u00a0and the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/studentaid.ed.gov\/sa\/fafsa\">U.S. Department of Education.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>KHEAA maintains a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kheaa.com\/website\/kheaa\/counselors?main=6\">comprehensive outreach program<\/a> to support students in understanding how to go and pay for college.\u00a0 This includes 13 statewide outreach counselors and an additional 30 college coachers serving in high-need high schools.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, many school districts employ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcps.net\/Page\/7065\">college &amp; career readiness coaches<\/a> as part of their counseling programs.\u00a0 Districts also often host <a href=\"https:\/\/www.larue.kyschools.us\/1\/Content\/270\">FAFSA completion nights<\/a> to encourage and support students and families in completing.<\/p>\n<p>For a student&#8217;s perspective on the FAFSA, check out the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/knowhow2goky.org\/psas\">KnowHow2GoKY<\/a>\u00a0public service announcements and videos produced by the Prichard Committee&#8217;s Student Voice Team in partnership with GEAR-UP and the Kentucky College and Career Connection Coalition.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; image=&#8221;9891&#8243; animation=&#8221;slideInUp&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House Bill 87 of the 2020 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly aims to increase the number of students completing the FAFSA \u2013 the Free Application for Federal Student Aid \u2013 by making it a high school graduation requirement.<\/p>\n<p>The legislation would allow waivers of the requirement under certain circumstance for hardship or if a student\/parent certifies they understand the FAFSA and are choosing not to fill it out.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, several states \u2013 including Louisiana, Texas, and Illinois \u2013 have adopted requirements similar to what is being proposed in House Bill 87.\u00a0 Louisiana saw a 25% increase in completions after implementing the change, but it is not all attributed to the requirement.\u00a0 Louisiana took a multi-pronged approach including peer-support programs, one-on-one assistance for students and families, phone-call reminders, and completion incentives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4983,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"passster_activate_protection":false,"passster_protect_child_pages":"","passster_protection_type":"password","passster_password":"","passster_activate_overwrite_defaults":"","passster_headline":"","passster_instruction":"","passster_placeholder":"","passster_button":"","passster_id":"","passster_activate_misc_settings":"","passster_redirect_url":"","passster_hide":"no","passster_area_shortcode":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ed"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4982"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5908,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4982\/revisions\/5908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}