FAFSA Filing Among First-Year College Students: Who Files on Time, Who Doesn’t, and Why Does it Matter?

Navigating the Financial Aid Process: Borrowing Outcomes among First-Generation and Non-First-Generation Students

“…The FAFSA collects information about family income, assets, and household size, among other financial information, to estimate financial need and eligibility for means-tested aid programs (Dynarski and Scott-Clayton 2006). As such, the FAFSA is a critical first step in obtaining the financial aid that many students need to attend college (McKinney and Novak 2015).…”

Learning to Speak Financial Aid: Results from a National Financial Aid Jargon Survey

“…Beyond interventions, Feeney and Heroff (2013) investigated the financial aid application experiences of low-income students and learned that students who were higher achieving students in high school (measured by grade-point averages) and had at least one parent who attended college were more likely to complete the FAFSA on time than peers. McKinney and Novak (2015) articulated similar findings, suggesting students of color and low-income students often do not complete the FAFSA on time compared to peers, leading to lower enrollment rates.…”

“…For this study, first-generation status is defined as neither parent holding a postsecondary credential or degree of any kind and at any level. Demographic data was gathered due to extant research suggesting FAFSA completion often varies by demographic (Feeney & Heroff, 2013;Kofoed, 2017;McKinney & Novak, 2015;Ziskin et al, 2014).…”

“…siblings, extended family members, friends, teachers) from completing the FAFSA (Asher, 2007;Bettinger et al, 2009;Castleman & Page, 2016;Dynarski & Scott-Clayton, 2008;Kantrowitz, 2011;McKinney & Novak, 2015). Related to the complexity of the federal financial aid process, Burd et al (2018) analyzed over 11,00 financial aid award letters and found these letters often contained complex jargon, lacked definitions of key terminology, and failed to differentiate between different types of financial aid.…”

Essays on Financial Aid Application and Distribution Policies

“…Two recent studies consider the barrier created by FAFSA deadlines at the state or institutional level. Using data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Study (BPS:04/09), McKinney & Novak (2015) found that students who file the FAFSA later are also more likely to enroll part-time or delay enrollment for one semester. While these relationships are strictly correlational, they highlight some of the potential negative consequences of not meeting FAFSA deadlines.…”