Should states require high school students to complete the FAFSA?

For many students, federal financial aid enables their pursuit of higher education. But the FAFSA — the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — often stands between students and that assistance. 

For years, advocates have proposed making completion of the FAFSA a high school graduation requirement, in the hopes of making college more affordable and encouraging students to think of it as an option. That policy is now beginning to catch on. 

Louisiana was the first to implement the idea in the 2017-18 academic year, and a handful of states quickly followed suit. 

Even more states are considering or have recently passed laws mandating the form for students. The governors of Indiana and Oklahoma signed FAFSA mandates into law this spring. Kansas has one that will take effect beginning with the class of 2028. And lawmakers in Massachusetts and Nebraska are now considering legislation to require high school students to fill out the application. 

Research shows the policies can help states increase FAFSA completion, but advocates say policy design still matters.

In Louisiana, Alabama and Texas, the number of FAFSA completions increased by about 25% after new looks took effect, said Bill DeBaun, senior director of data and strategic initiatives at the National College Attainment Network, a nonprofit organization that has advocated for the policy. For Louisiana, that meant the state became a leader in FAFSA completions when the law went into effect in 2018, with about 70% of seniors completing the form by June 30th of that year, according to a recent NCAN analysis.

In Illinois, completions only went up by 3% when the mandate took effect in the 2020-21 academic year, with 65.7% of that year’s senior class finishing the form. DeBaun said those figures were likely influenced by the pandemic.

“We have pretty good evidence that universal FAFSA policies do bump up the number of FAFSAs completed,” he said.

The evidence about whether these policies increase college-going among high school students is more sparse. The studies that do exist typically show only small effects. 

“The policy is outpacing the empirical evidence at this point,” DeBaun said.

Not every student who fills out the FAFSA will receive financial aid. State laws typically require students to submit their portions of the form but don’t mandate parents and families to complete their parts. Students only qualify for financial aid if the whole form is complete, Peter Granville, a fellow at The Century Foundation, said via email. 

But Chris Lowery, Indiana’s higher education commissioner, said he still hopes the state’s new law can increase the number of students attending college and their persistence once they are enrolled, especially for students of color and rural students.

Indiana students already in college left more than $65 million in Pell Grant dollars on the table by not completing the FAFSA in the 2020-21 academic year, according to an NCAN analysis. 

“We’re confident the college-going rate is going to increase for youth and hopefully for adults too,” said Lowery. “We want to continue to build that robust talent pipeline here in Indiana.

Crafting a strategy

Indiana’s law, like others, includes an opt-out provision for students who know that they don’t plan to attend college. That allows students to still graduate high school if completing the FAFSA is not part of their plan. 

However, other policy elements can make FAFSA requirements more effective and help alleviate any new burdens on students and schools, DeBaun said. 

One of those is timing. NCAN recommends that states wait one academic year between passing and implementing a mandatory FAFSA policy. That’s so schools and agencies have the time to make changes and gear up to help students complete their forms.