Sunday WV vibes.

The National College Attainment Network (NCAN) FAFSA Tracker is live w/ data through 4/5. This week we switched over from tracking FAFSA submissions to FAFSA completions.

Completions are down 38% year-over-year. 28% of seniors have completed a FAFSA compared to 46% last year.

Oof.

ncanfafsatracker.org

PSA: The majority opinion in SFFA says nothing about scholarships.

I'm sure that Ed Blum is happy to see colleges & universities doing his work for him.

I can think of few more important questions in higher ed right now than who will stand up for justice?

Please nod along, people:

The colleges that have reinstated testing requirements = a meaningful trend that matters greatly.

All the other colleges that have gone test-optional and remain so = afterthoughts not worth mentioning.

10:51 am:

A college counselor texts me: “OMG FAFSA CORRECTIONS ARE POSSIBLE.”

11:53 am:

The same counselor texts:

“Ok now corrections are not available again. Cool cool cool.”

The federal-aid process is broken, but let’s hyperventilate about this news! tinyurl.com/yc2yxyau

HS counselor: 'If I'm at the point of thinking the CSS Profile is a walk in the fucking park for students, then, yes, something has gone seriously wrong here.'

Fact: Katherine Knott 🤷‍♀️(on bsky.social) is a terrific ed
reporter covering federal policy, and her stories are must-reads for anyone who cares abt FAFSA, student loans, affordability, all that good stuff.

HS senior: “Nothing really freaks out adults as much when you say that you do your best work at the last minute.”

ACE President Ted Mitchell joined the latest episode of dotEDU to examine the complexities of admissions in 2024, including problems with the redesigned FAFSA , repercussions of the 2023 Supreme Court ruling on race in admissions, and more.

Listen here:
ow.ly/gfIK50RcEqk

Great testimony by Justin Draeger at the U.S. House Committee hearing on FAFSA Fail, highlighting the tipping point from hardship to crisis. Well done, sir! youtube.com/watch?v=gq_6Bn…

The fact that today’s Congressional hearing about the impact of FAFSA problems doesn’t include student testimony sure seems like a big miss.

Imagine any other kind of business or agency with this failure rate, and then imagine them asking the customer to make it right.

The latest U.S. Department of Education update is a doozy:

~16% of FAFSAs require a correction.

~30% of forms “are potentially affected by known processing or data errors.”

~20% require corrected tax data from IRS. Colleges will start receiving those forms “by May 1.” tinyurl.com/4ey3s4h6

Psst. “Fit” is a luxury in admissions, yet we often talk as if it were not.

Just spent the day with a dynamo of a college counselor and her smart, brave, and insightful students at a charter school where everyone is desperately waiting for aid offers. Can’t wait to share this up-close look at the #FAFSA mess.

Clyde really wants to come on this reporting trip with me.

Spring 2024: Getting FAFSA-data updates on a Saturday afternoon from a few financial-aid folks, and loving it!

HS senior on her school counselor: “She never said ‘Oh, everything’s gonna be OK, don’t worry.’ Because, like, no. But she helped me believe that I could handle it when things aren’t OK.”

I love how some colleges that do little for college access are wailing about how the FAFSA crisis is hurting access.