High school seniors applying for federal student aid faster than in past years

LANSING — After years of declining participation, high school seniors are outpacing last year’s graduating class in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

Students must complete the application, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, to be considered for federal student aid like the Pell Grant, work-study funds and student loans.

State-level scholarships like the Michigan Achievement Scholarship and Community College Guarantee are similarly obtainable only after completing the form.

“Completing the FAFSA changes the conversation in students’ homes from ‘college isn’t even an option to me’ to ‘wait, I got a full scholarship to go to my local community college,’” said Ryan Fewins-Bliss, the executive director of the nonprofit Michigan College Access Network.

The most recent data from the network says that 41.8% of graduating seniors have already completed the FAFSA.

That’s more than 12 points higher than last year, when only 29.2% of seniors had completed it by April.

East Central Michigan, consisting of Gratiot, Bay, Isabella, Gladwin, Saginaw, Midland, Clare and Arenac counties, has the highest completion rate of 51.69%.

The lowest rate — 40.25% — is in South Central Michigan, made up of Ingham, Clinton and Eaton counties.

The statewide increase is a positive sign for advocates of the FAFSA, who say getting more people to fill out the application is crucial for reaching the state’s goal of increasing the share of working-age adults with a skill certificate or college degree to 60% by 2030.

One reason behind this year’s increase is that the FAFSA form was released on time rather than two months late as it was in the previous two years, Fewins-Bliss said.

Problems with rolling out the new, streamlined version of the form in 2023 and 2024 meant many students couldn’t access the application until Dec. 1, which some experts warned would negatively affect enrollment numbers.

With those problems ironed out, the new form takes significantly less time to complete because families no longer need to input their tax information to determine their level of financial need, Fewin-Bliss said.

Now, the Internal Revenue Service shares that information directly with the U.S. Department of Education.

When it came time to fill out the application with his own daughter, who is a senior in high school, Fewin-Bliss estimated it took “maybe 10 minutes” to complete.

The state has also invested millions of dollars in initiatives to increase completion of the form.

Since December 2024, the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential has awarded $10 million to school districts that require their students to complete the FAFSA before graduation.

The department is also partnering with the college access network to hold a lottery for students who complete the FAFSA.

Ten students who fill out the application and text “CASH” to 855-50K-TICKET will receive $50,000 and 40 will receive $10,000 that can be used to cover tuition and fees, living expenses, computers and textbooks.

More than 9,000 have already entered the contest, said Diann Cosme, the department’s director of Michigan student aid.

Cosme said the department visits schools to talk to students about the benefits of completing the application and coordinates informational webinars for families.

Fewins-Bliss said the college access network spends much of its time working with school counselors, whom he said are essential resources for students planning out their futures.

He noted, however, that the shortage of school counselors in the state is an ongoing problem.

There is only one school counselor for every 598 students in Michigan, the second- highest ratio in the nation behind only Arizona, according to the American School Counselor Association.

Fewins-Bliss said one reason is low salaries for those roles, which push prospective counselors away from the field in favor of higher-paying administrative positions.

While the college access network has a “stretch goal” for 75% of graduating seniors to complete the FAFSA, Fewins-Bliss said the immediate goal is to have more applications than last year.

Students looking to receive the Michigan Tuition Grant or Michigan Competitive Scholarship for the 2025-26 academic year must apply by July 1.