‘Worse than COVID’: 41% fewer Texas students completed FAFSA

DALLAS – The Dallas Morning News says Texas saw one of the most dramatic drops in high schoolers completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid as the nation contends with a rocky rollout of the new FAFSA. In the Dallas area, schools experienced significant decreases – some of them as large as 30 percentage-point drops, according to an analysis of federal data by The Dallas Morning News. In Dallas ISD, for example, only about 35% of seniors completed the form by April 5 compared to over 60% last year, according to the federal data. The U.S. Department of Education estimates show that Texas had about 41% fewer seniors finish the application by April 5 compared to this time last year, according to The News’ analysis. Now many educators and advocates worry that the troubled FAFSA rollout will disrupt students’ journey to college more than the pandemic.

“This needs to be all hands on deck for states,” said Ellie Bruecker, interim director of research at The Institute for College Access and Success. “Students will fall out of the pipeline if we don’t get them to fill out the FAFSA.” These declines come as the U.S. Department of Education was tasked with redesigning FAFSA to be a simpler and more accessible form for students. However, the launch of the revamped application was marked by delays and technical difficulties, leaving millions of students confused and afraid they won’t get enough financial aid for the next academic year. Damian Salas, a senior at Uplift North Hills Preparatory in Irving, has been accepted to many Texas universities, including Texas Tech, as well as schools in Colorado and Oklahoma. He wants to study computer engineering. “I really like being hands-on with materials and building things. I like building PCs. I’ve always been fascinated by that,” he said. But he can’t decide where to attend and make plans for next year as he awaits news of financial aid. “It makes me stressed because I see him frustrated that he isn’t able to make a decision,” his mother Jessica Salas said. “He sees that dad and I are also stressed out because we’re not able to plan.”