California’s higher education systems can provide a ladder for economic mobility, yet too many of the state’s high school graduates fail to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or—for those who are undocumented—the California Dream Act Application (CADAA). This results in missed opportunities, decisions made with limited information, and unclaimed aid. Initial results of California’s recently enacted universal financial aid application completion policy suggest it will help to improve access to college among low-income, Latino, and other historically underrepresented groups.

Promising initial results notwithstanding difficulties

Although implementation results varied across districts depending upon capacity, priorities, and constraints, the first year saw increased FAFSA/CADAA completion rates in California compared to the rest of the nation. Applications prior to the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems’ March 2 deadline increased by 16 percent. Moreover, gains were concentrated among the groups the policy is intended to help most. Students in the lowest-income group saw the largest increase (21%). And each tracked racial/ethnicity subgroup increased by 4 to 9 percentage points, with Latino, Filipino, Pacific Islander, and Native American the largest.

Second year completion numbers were significantly lower because of a difficult rollout of the FAFSA Simplification Act, which caused delays, technical problems, and confusion. If UC and CSU had not extended their deadlines to May 2, applications would have been 50 percent less than year one. However, given the success in the first year and the experience gained in the second, we remain optimistic that more students will continue to complete the form and get the information they need to plan their future.

Students from the lowest income group experienced the highest FAFSA/CADAA submission increase

% change

SOURCE: California Student Aid Commission.

NOTES: Includes FAFSA and CADAA applications from 2021–22 and 2022–23 academic years. The FAFSA Simplification Act passed in 2020 introduced a new index number to calculate student financial need, replacing the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) with the Student Aid Index (SAI). The SAI protects more parental income from the assessment and allows for a negative SAI up to $1,500—increasing the level of possible financial aid for students in the lowest income category. Typically, a negative SAI would indicate a family annual income of about $25,000 or less. We do not include a category for unknown applications. The category “unknown” includes incomplete but accepted FAFSA applications. Typically, this category accounts for between 3 and 5 percent of the total number of HS applications—about 10,000–13,000 in raw numbers. See Technical Appendix Table A for details on the numbers represented by these changes.

District strategies overcame obstacles

The first-year success is impressive in part because districts experienced obstacles to implementation— including parental resistance, high student-to-counselor ratios, inconsistent tracking methods, and confusion about enforcement. Successful solutions often relied on cooperation and coordination between many individuals at schools and within districts. They prioritized clear communication about the requirement, system-wide support, partnerships with community organizations, data sharing, and incentives for students to complete the form.

Going forward

To ensure the policy’s continued success we recommend:

Promote FAFSA/CADAA completion as part of the California School Dashboard. FAFSA/CADAA completion is a critical step for students learning about their college and career options. The state should integrate completion data into its factors for a school’s success.

Improve data sharing among schools and districts. At minimum, we recommend that schools within a district share their data, but ideally all districts within a region would do so. This would aid with tracking student enrollment across high schools, allowing districts to better locate and support them. Districts will need additional staff and resources. Engaging county government to support data quality, sharing, and access could serve as a potential best practice to provide assistance to districts.

Coordinate efforts and build buy-in across different stakeholders. A holistic approach to increasing FAFSA/CADAA completion could aid effective implementation. The more people involved, the better the college-going culture at the school or district. This is achieved by slowly building buy-in from stakeholders such as students, parents, teachers, administrators, mayors, legislators, and the community. Creating multiple points of contact with students and families (classroom, administration, counselors) and holding special events to celebrate milestones are examples of successful district practices. When stakeholders such as mayors and legislators understand and value FAFSA completion—not just as it relates to education but as part of the fiscal impact on their communities as a whole—they will be more likely to support implementation.

Build local capacity. Districts should build local capacity by partnering with other school districts in their region and with nonprofits or community organizations that can provide specialized services. Long-lasting impacts are created by implementing culturally relevant support through these partnerships and developing an ethos of postsecondary success.

Sources

About the Authors

Kevin Cook is a research associate at the PPIC Higher Education Center. His research interests include education finance and policy for both K–12 and higher education, and his current work focuses on performance-based funding, online learning, and public pensions. Before joining PPIC, he worked as a research assistant in the investments division of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, where he conducted sustainability risk analysis. He holds an MPPA from Sacramento State University and a BA in history from Occidental College.

Jacob Jackson is the director of Research Partnership at UC Davis Wheelhouse. His research includes work on college costs, college readiness, community college participation, access to higher education, and college completion. Previously, he was a research fellow at the PPIC Higher Education Center. Before joining PPIC, he was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Davis, and a middle school and high school teacher in Sacramento, California, and Columbia, Missouri. He holds a PhD in education from the University of California, Davis, and a master’s degree in education from the University of Missouri.

Selina Gomez is a research associate at the PPIC Higher Education Center. Her work focuses on higher education accessibility, readiness, and completion. Before joining PPIC, she served as a program specialist at Hayward Unified School District, evaluating K–12 data on comprehensive academic, social, and health services for students. She also worked at Alameda County’s Office of Sustainability and as a middle school educator focused on STEM education through the Public Service Center at the University of California, Berkeley. She holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental economics and policy from the University of California, Berkeley.

Chansonette Buck is the owner and executive editor of Appaloosa WordCraft, which provides research, writing, and editing for a wide range of organizational clients—including public policy think tanks and nonprofits. She is also an award-winning poet. She holds a PhD in English from the University of California, Berkeley.