Financial Experiences of Students Who Don't Complete the FAFSA. Spotlight Report Brief

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the application that postsecondary students complete to receive federal grants, work-study, and loans; as well as some state and institutional grants, and private financial aid. In 2019-2020, 17.7 million undergraduates filed a FAFSA and in 2021-2022, full-time equivalent students received an average of $15,330 in financial aid. While the percentage of undergraduate students filing the FAFSA has increased significantly in the past twenty years, it is estimated that over one-third of non-filers in the 2015-2016 school year would have qualified for the Federal Pell Grant. This brief examines data from 59,208 students at 104 higher education institutions that participated in Trellis' Fall 2021 Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS). The report focuses on self-reported FAFSA completion and reasons for not completing the FAFSA. Research indicates a link between filing a FAFSA and within-year persistence, year-to-year persistence, and earning a degree within six years. Therefore, understanding students' FAFSA completion rate and reasons for non-submission can inform strategies to help students remain in school and graduate on time.