(2022) FAFSA Filing In Iowa: 2022. College Student Aid Commission
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Abstract
Completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a critical step in the college-going process. At Iowa College Aid, we focus on increasing the FAFSA filing rate, especially for minority and low-income students. To that end, each year, we detail filing rates and trends for public high school seniors, overall and broken down by student characteristics. This report examines FAFSAs filed before June 1 in the 2018-19 through 2022-23 FAFSA cycles. We find that the current FAFSA cycle mirrored the previous cycle, the first cycle for which the application period occurred entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Iowa’s rates were below the national rate this year. However, Iowa outpaces the nation early in each cycle, potentially increasing Iowans’ chances of receiving need-based financial aid. We find a relationship between student characteristics and FAFSA filing rates. While FAFSA rates by race/ethnicity either remained the same or increased, gaps among racial/ ethnic groups persisted. The gap between males and females remained steady, approximately 15 percentage points higher for females. The overall number of undergraduate FAFSAs filed dropped 12% over the past five cycles. FAFSA renewals are down 5% from the previous year. All these data points demonstrate the importance of addressing overall FAFSA completion and equity gaps in Iowa.