The number of St. Vrain Valley School District seniors applying for federal aid improved at four times the state’s completion rate this year.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is a form completed by prospective college students to determine their eligibility for student financial aid. Completing the FAFSA form indicates that the student is planning to attend college and helps low-income students with getting grants and scholarships.
Nationwide, FAFSA has a national completion rate of 54.5% as of Aug. 5 according to the Form Your Future FAFSA Tracker. That’s a 4.3% improvement compared to the last academic year.
Colorado has a 43.3% completion rate as of Aug. 5, which is the sixth lowest in the country for students completing FAFSA. However, the state is seeing a year over year improvement with 1.8% or 564 more applications compared to last year.
St. Vrain had 4.1% more seniors apply for FAFSA year over year. For comparison, Boulder Valley School District saw 1.7% fewer students apply this year and Poudre School District saw 6.3% more applicants.
In Colorado, low income high schools saw 5.1% more applications this year while high minority schools saw 6% more students apply for FAFSA. City-based high schools also saw a 1.4% increase in completion, with Longmont high schools specifically seeing a 1% increase in applications.
Some states, though not Colorado, require students to finish the form to graduate. A Colorado law passed this year will create a directory of resources for educators, boost training and require schools to notify students about financial aid opportunities with a goal of doubling Colorado’s FAFSA completion rate to 80%, according to Chalkbeat Colorado.
