FAFSA season has just ended—the final deadline to fill out the 2017-18 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) was June 30. This year, as every year, many students who are eligible for aid will have failed to complete the form. This means many miss out on financial aid, which can have a serious impact on postsecondary enrollment, persistence, and completion. As many as one in seven students eligible for financial aid who enroll in college do not complete the FAFSA.
FAFSA completion is positively associated with college enrollment, and FAFSA completion rates can be important early indicators of postsecondary access and success. But FAFSA completion rates can be tricky to track and to compare across time or between places, and are prone to misinterpretation.