The flawed and delayed rollout of the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online form at the end of last year made applying for financial aid difficult for all students and posed particular and ongoing challenges to students from families with mixed citizenship statuses. In response to these difficulties, California implemented emergency policy changes to help students and families apply for financial aid and better anticipate the amount of aid they will receive in advance of deciding where to enroll. Unfortunately, despite these efforts, data suggest that fewer Californians are applying for financial aid this year than the year prior, a drop that could affect the educational trajectory of students and college enrollment for years to come. In this blog post, we analyze data on financial aid application submissions from the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) as well as the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) to examine how the state and specific student populations have fared so far in the 2024-25 application cycle.
Almost three months after the extended May 2 state financial aid priority deadline this year, Californians still have not caught up with last year’s financial aid application submissions, despite the enrollment increase at the state’s public high schools. While this reality is concerning, California can still make gains as we approach the September 3 financial aid deadline for California Community College (CCC) students. So, where do we stand as of July 26, 2024?
- California ranks 13th nationally in the share of high school seniors completing a FAFSA, with about 52 percent (almost 295,000 completions) of the state’s high school class of 2024 having completed a FAFSA, representing a 10 percent decrease (about 32,000 fewer completions) compared to last year.
- Californians have submitted under 1.9 million financial aid applications in total, including California Dream Act Applications (CADAA) and applicants other than high school seniors – almost 85,000 fewer compared to the same time last year.
- Almost 132,000 fewer first-year college students in California completed a financial aid application compared to the same time last year. Meanwhile, the number of applications received from second to fourth-year students has surpassed last year’s.
- The state received nearly 33,000 fewer applications from CCC students, over 1,000 fewer applications from students attending both private, independent colleges as well as Cal State University (CSU), and almost 6,000 fewer applications from University of California (UC) students compared to the same time last year.
- The state received 238,000 fewer applications from students of color compared to the same time last year.
- Students with the most financial need applied in higher numbers than last year. The state received over 229,000 more applications from students with Expected Family Contributions (EFC) or Student Aid Indexes (SAI) between negative 1,500 and zero compared to the same time last year.
- Nearly 115,000 more students whose parents have at least a college degree submitted applications compared to last year, while there was nearly a 110,000 decrease in applications from students whose parents’ highest level of education is high school or less.
Although California’s financial aid application submissions have recently exceeded those from the 2022-23 application cycle, they still lag behind the significant increases achieved during the 2023-24 cycle, which could be attributed to the state’s universal financial aid application mandate for graduating high school seniors. As we look forward, California and higher education stakeholders must act to prevent downstream college-going issues stemming from the turbulent rollout of the Better FAFSA, particularly for students who heavily rely on financial aid. Recent data suggest that many Californians might have refrained from applying for financial aid or did not apply on time. Consequently, this situation could lead to enrollment declines, as students lacked timely financial aid offers to submit their admissions deposits or felt uncertain about signing housing contracts, attending orientation, and registering for classes.
As we approach the September 3 financial aid deadline for CCC students, and given that almost half of CCC students did not apply for federal financial aid in 2019-20, it is critical for statewide decision-makers to ensure that students apply for aid if they have not already. This can be done by implementing and funding strategies to increase application rates, including increasing outreach efforts, monitoring data, creating local partnerships, and funding statewide programs, competitions, or incentives that encourage students to apply. With the looming start of the next application cycle, California’s leaders must continue to keep students and families informed of any developments in the application process, such as ongoing technical problems or verification issues, delayed timelines, or again allowing mixed-status families to use the CADAA if the Department of Education is still struggling to solve the barriers those students face.
By intentionally and proactively working on efforts to increase FAFSA and CADAA submission rates over the remainder of the current application cycle and beginning immediately with the start of the next application cycle, California has an opportunity to simultaneously boost college enrollment rates and pave the way for student success.
For more information on how to apply for financial aid, visit www.csac.ca.gov/how-apply. For additional assistance in completing an application, check out resources like the Cash for College webinars. There will be four webinars available between August 14 and the September 3 deadline this year.
