FAFSA Filing In Iowa: 2023

(2023) FAFSA Filing In Iowa: 2023. 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. One of the Iowa College Student Aid Commission’s (Iowa College Aid) goals is increasing the FAFSA filing rate, especially for minority and low-income students. To that end, we annually 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 2023-24 FAFSA cycles. We find that Iowa’s FAFSA rate was slightly lower compared to the national FAFSA rate at the end of May. However, Iowa outpaces the nation early, 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 has remained steady, at approximately 14 percentage points higher for females. The overall number of undergraduate FAFSAs filed dropped 10% during the past six cycles but is on an upward trajectory. All these data points demonstrate the importance of addressing overall FAFSA completion and filing gaps.