FAFSA Submissions Down Nearly 50% Among High School Seniors

• The release of the new FAFSA was delayed by almost three months.
• As a result, FAFSA submissions among class of 2024 high schoolers are lagging relative to this time last year.
• Poor submission figures are especially apparent for students from low-income high schools.
• Organizations are calling for an extension of crucial decision and financial aid deadlines.

Class of 2024 high school seniors are falling behind in the race to submit Free Applications for Federal Student Aid (FAFSAs).

The National College Attainment Network (NCAN) found that compared to this time last year, FAFSA submissions are down 49% among soon-to-graduate high school seniors.

Considering the FAFSA is the primary tool institutions and government agencies use to award financial aid, early data shows that colleges and universities may have a more challenging time than usual enticing students to attend their schools through generous award offers.

The FAFSA submission downturn wasn't unexpected.

The Department of Education (ED) didn't launch this year's new-and-improved FAFSA until Dec. 30 — nearly three months later than the typical Oct. 1 launch date. As a result, students have had significantly less time to submit their applications than in previous years.

NCAN's tracker currently only covers the first five weeks that the 2024-25 application has been open, up until Feb. 2.

On the bright side, submissions are slightly up from last year if you compare just the first four weeks of each FAFSA cycle. According to NCAN, relative to the first four weeks last year, class of 2024 seniors are ahead of the pace by about 3%.

Still, just 20% of seniors have submitted their FAFSA, as of Feb. 2. Over 35% of seniors had submitted a FAFSA by the end of January in the previous six academic years.

"The alarm bells sounding about the Class of 2024 are so loud because they threaten to disrupt this positive momentum," NCAN said in a breakdown of the submission trends. "The stakes are high: Students' postsecondary plans are on the line, and some students will, unfortunately, likely pursue other paths if they cannot get the financial aid they need to go to college."

Delays have not hit all student groups equitably.

Low-income high schools, where more than 50% of students are eligible for free- or reduced-price lunch, trail their higher-income peers in FAFSA submission by eight percentage points, according to NCAN.

High schools where at least 40% of students are Black or Latino/a have an estimated FAFSA submission rate of 17.3%. Schools with smaller percentages of Black and Latino/a students reported submission rates of 24.3%, per NCAN.

All the while, FAFSA issues persist.

ED has 16 known technical issues that have not been resolved, as of Feb. 14. Two known issues are currently preventing any student with a noncitizen or undocumented parent from submitting an online FAFSA, forcing these students to either submit a paper form or wait for a fix.

The department also recently announced that it will amend its FAFSA formula to adjust for inflation. This last-minute change means ED won't send student data to colleges and universities until "the first half of March," so students likely won't receive financial aid offers until late March or early April.

College Decision Day is May 1, leaving little time for students to review financial aid offers and make their enrollment choice.

Ten higher education advocacy groups called on colleges and universities to extend their commitment and financial aid application deadlines for the 2024-25 academic year. NCAN also asked state financial aid programs to postpone deadlines until at least April 1 and to reexamine first-come, first-serve application policies.