FAFSA Completion Tool Adds New Data

​The Department of Education continues to track student FAFSA data in an effort to increase completion rates, and now counselors can easily compare this year’s data with the numbers from the same time last year. The FAFSA Completion tool provides an Excel spreadsheet with data on all public and private school districts by state. 

The tool supports efforts to encourage all students, regardless of their aid expectations, to at least fill out the application. The application is the only way for the federal government to allot aid, so students have to play to win. 

According to the Department, there are at least five good reasons to fill out the form: 

1. It’s the only way to gain access to the more than $150 billion available in federal student aid. 
2. It’s FREE!
3. It’s easier than ever. (The online application now includes an IRS Data Retrieval Tool)
4. It only takes about 30 minutes to complete. 
5. More people qualify than you’d think. 

In addition to the publicly accessible FAFSA information, the Department has been experimenting with a prototype that would allow counselors to match the completion data to individual students, a feature that many counselors have requested. Only 92 school districts are participating in the pilot program. 

According to Dena Bates, the Federal Student Aid lead on the Completion Project, there are currently no plans to expand the program, at least not until the evaluation stage is complete. “I think the national evaluation will help determine the future of the project,” she said.