The federal government provides more than $150 billion in grants, loans and work-study funding for college students, yet the number of high school students filing out financial aid applications to access that money is waning.
A trove of data released this week by the Department of Education shows fewer high school seniors are turning in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) than last year. As of June 3, submissions among high school seniors nationwide were down 4 percent compared with the same period a year ago. Although the department did not make national completion data available, officials suspect the decline is even higher as students often fail to fix mistakes after submitting the form. Between 9 percent and 10 percent of submitted FAFSA applications have not been completed in the last four years, according to the department.
Read more at The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/06/17/the-government-offers-130-billion-to-college-students-why-arent-more-applying-for-it/