FAFSA Completion Initiative NCHELP Spring Conference – 2012 Illinois Student Assistance Commission Eddie Brambila

FAFSA Completion and College Enrollment Completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) lowers college costs. FAFSA Completion promotes college access: In Chicago, high school students who complete the FAFSA by May are 50% more likely to enroll in four- year colleges.* Nationally, research suggests that 90% of high school graduates who complete the FAFSA enroll in college.** * Roderick, et al. (2008). ** U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002/06).

US Department of Education (ED) FAFSA Completion Project Out of the Federal Student Aid Online High School Tracking Tool Allows high schools to track aggregate FAFSA completion data Recently expanded the initial implementation pilot Started with 20 participants Increasing to over 100 multi-high-school LEAs and a small group of single-high-school LEA This process gives student level data on FAFSA completion

Illinois Student Assistance Commission ISACState agency that awards approximately $400M annually in state grants and scholarships Monetary Award Program (MAP) grant Serves over 180,000 students a year based on need Awards are suspended relatively early in the year due to limited funds (we run out of money!)

ROI: Return on Investment for Illinois Real cost to Illinois 1 : 2010An estimated 46,500 students did not graduate from HS in Illinois translating into a loss in earnings on average of $263M per year By graduating from HS, these new graduates would increase gross state product by as much as $335M & support as many as 2,300 new jobs State tax revenue would likely grow by as much as $30M per year Access is the first step, but persistence and graduation are equally important Not completing the FAFSA is a barrier for students in Chicago Public Schools Roderick, M., Nagaoka, J., Coca, V., Moeller, E., et al. (2008) From High School to the Future: Potholes on the Road to College Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago.

ISAC & Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Questions: How do we convey information on financial aid to students effectively? How do we get all eligible students to fill out the FAFSA? Strategy: Train counselors and post-secondary coaches Conduct financial aid presentations and FAFSA completion workshops throughout the year Identify who has completed a FAFSA Result: Interagency agreement between ISAC and CPS to further CPS goal of assisting students in their pursuit of financial aid for which they have applied.

Resources Illinois State Scholar – ISAC receives ACT data and high school roster (Name, DOB, GPA) data for every rising senior in Illinois to determine Illinois State Scholars FAFSA DataISAC receives from the Department of Education FAFSA data for purposes of awarding the MAP Grant Research Planning & Policy Analysis (RPPA)ISAC department that conducts research on data as it relates to the state Chicago Public Schools commitment FAFSA Completion as a Key Performance Measure

Process CPS sends a list of their students in an encrypted file to ISAC ISAC compares file with in-house data The encrypted file is returned to CPS, which includes among other items: Students that have completed the FAFSA Total qualified for MAP Grant Total qualified for Pell Grant Distribution of students as it relates to Expected Family Contribution (EFC) List of colleges to which students are sending FAFSA information Frequency was originally once a month; it is done on a weekly basis as of 2011

The FAFSA Report – Sample

The FAFSA Report – Page 2

CPS Completion Rates Senior ClassFAFSA Year # Seniors# Completing FAFSA % completing FAFSA # completing FAFSA before suspense date Suspense date 2006FY200718,36610, %9,4978/26/ FY2008*17,62910, %9,6958/16/ FY200918,82412, %11,1037/26/ FY201018,61513, %11,9455/15/ FY201118,61315, %13,6664/19/ FY201218,37215, %14,7523/26/ FY201323,205^ (early May) 16,804 (early May) 72.4%15,8903/20/12 *Program began with the class of 2007 completing FY2008 FAFSAs. ^Prior to FY12 matching was done using SSNs. CPS sent a list of seniors for whom an SSN was available. In FY13 the matching is done with names and DOB so the list includes all seniors.

FAFSA Challenge Meter

Extending Program to Other Districts Interagency agreement with CPS was the template for current research agreement Over 200 high schools have signed up to participate... and counting.

Promoting Program State Conferences Professional Development Workshops s to listservs Talking to key high school personnel Simplifying Research AgreementNot needing SSN Creating one-page handout with FAQs Reminding schools that it is FREE!

Replicating The Formula Illinois High School Seniors filing FAFSA by...early May of senior year end of FAFSA filing cycle (June of next year) 2009 seniors filing FY10 FAFSA 48%61% 2010 seniors filing FY11 FAFSA 53%62% 2011 seniors filing FY12 FAFSA 55%65% almost final 2012 seniors filing FY13 FAFSA 57%not available yet 150,000 high school seniors every year

Illinois Student Assistance Corps (ISACorps) College Access Challenge Grant (CACG) awarded to Illinois, specifically ISAC As part of CACG, approximately 80 recent college graduates were hired to be near-peer mentors Corps members are asked for a 2-year commitment Corps members are placed throughout the state Target population is first-generation and/or low income students Corps use their experience and enthusiasm to connect, encourage, and assist students with the college going process Increased our ability to conduct outreach

Access & Outreach Division Activity ActivityFY09FY10FY11FY12 Prof Development Workshops Financial Aid Presentations FAFSA Completion Workshops College Preparation Sessions Attendance Students26,67547,86966,95877,261 Parents8,38124,69024,26324,973

For The Mission Making college accessible and affordable for Illinois Students Eddie Brambila Managing Director, Partnerships Illinois Student Assistance Commission ext 3707