Beginning with the 2020-21 academic year, Texas will require high school seniors to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) before graduating. Completing the form is a leading indicator of college enrollment, and there is ample evidence
that more financial aid is associated with outcomes like college completion, Inside Higher Ed reported.
A handful of states have considered making FAFSA completion mandatory for graduating high school students, with Louisiana enacting the requirement last year. Texas will now become the second state to do so.
During the last academic year, Louisiana saw FAFSA completions by high school students climb by more than 25 percent.
"As the forerunner of this kind of policy, the early successes that Louisiana has seen with mandatory FAFSA has to be encouraging for other states," said Bill DeBaun, director of data and evaluation at the National College Access Network. "We shouldn't
assume Texas will see the same effects Louisiana did. But given the scale of the state, even a modest effect could make a big splash on the FAFSA completion cycle."
College access groups say high school seniors leave millions of aid dollars on the table each year by not completing the form—often because it is too difficult or they do not believe they will qualify for aid.
The complexity of the FAFSA application has come under increasing scrutiny at the federal level, reported Inside Higher Ed. Senate lawmakers negotiating a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act have identified a streamlined application as a top priority.
Meanwhile, the Education Department in recent years has rolled out changes designed to simplify FAFSA completion, like the IRS data retrieval tool and the use of prior-prior year family income.
The complexity of the form remains a major obstacle for students and parents, though. Therefore, achieving big gains in FAFSA completion requires significant investment and outreach by schools and state officials.
Louisiana launched a multipronged approach to FAFSA completion backed by funding from the Kresge Foundation, which included a peer support program, automated phone reminders, financial incentive vouchers, and waivers, among other things.
In Texas, state officials are still finalizing the details for howout the requirement would work in practice on high school campuses. The Texas Education Agency will appoint an advisory committee to develop expectations for those campuses.
Related Link
Inside Higher Ed
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/07/10/texas-becomes-second-state-require-fafsa-completion