Colleagues –
As you’ve likely seen, the 2025-2026 FAFSA is delayed. While this isn’t entirely unexpected after the challenges of last year’s rollout, it’s disappointing. As I mentioned in my note in the spring, rehashing the problems of the 2024-2025 FAFSA launch or dwelling on this cycle's delays won’t help students. Instead, I’d like to use this space to spotlight some standout (and creative) strategies happening across the country to keep students on track. That’s where the foundation and our partners are focusing our efforts.
What you need to know about the 2025-2026 FAFSA
Normally, the FAFSA form is available on October 1st, but this year it will open to a limited group for Beta Testing at that time and be available for all students in December. The Department of Education’s top priority is ensuring the form is easy to use and glitch-free, and the progressive rollout this year is an attempt to avoid the chaos and difficulty from the 24-25 release.
So, while these delays are no doubt frustrating, once up and running the new form is designed to be simpler and easier to navigate. A few key features include fewer questions, availability in more languages, an expansion of the maximum Pell Grant award for students from low-income backgrounds, and a “direct data exchange” that will import tax information from the IRS. While these changes may not get headlines, they should make the process just a bit easier for students to navigate.
Some bright spots on 2024-2025 FAFSA completion
Wait. Isn’t the 2024-2025 FAFSA cycle over? Nope. Students can apply for financial aid for the 2024-2025 academic year through June 30, 2025! Our partners at the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) have been continuing to track FAFSA completions for the 24-25 cycle, and the latest data pulled on September 6th, shows that 51.7% of the high school class of 2024 completed a form and overall, there have been 2,153,513 completions nationally. On June 30th of this year that number was 46% compared to 52.4% at the same time last year. So, while FAFSA completion rates still trail behind last year, they continue to climb.
That growth is thanks in part to efforts from education advocates, postsecondary institutions, influencers, and more. NCAN’s national #DoTheFAFSA digital campaign ran from mid-May through August, targeting young people from low-income families, and the performance metrics should be celebrated. In 16 short weeks, their campaign drove 1.8 MILLION clicks to FAFSA.gov, resulting in an estimated 650,000 FAFSA starts! Bravo to NCAN and their partners for this incredibly successful initiative.
Some groups even threw parties to get more students to complete. Thanks to support from the College Foundation of North Carolina, and to help boost postsecondary enrollment for Latino students in the state, “FAFSA Fiestas” targeting recent high school graduates were hosted on college campuses. More than 112 families attended the four FAFSA parties organized by the College Foundation, and a follow-up survey showed more than 43 completed their form – and that number has likely increased by now. This is just one example of what’s happening across the country to support students, and their families fill out the FAFSA.
One of the biggest hurdles toward enrolling students in postsecondary education is their ability to access financial aid. When the FAFSA opens for all students in December, I challenge us to work collaboratively and creatively to have a strong start to the application process – showing next year how far ahead of the trend line we are instead of playing catch up.
Patrick Methvin
Director, Postsecondary Success
Measuring higher ed value
The primary motivation for students to pursue higher education is to increase their employment opportunities and achieve financial security. But not all postsecondary institutions deliver on that promise for the students they enroll, and it’s critical that prospective students and their families understand which institutions will provide them with the best return on their investment. A few years ago, our partners at Third Way developed two new metrics to evaluate how effectively colleges and universities deliver economic returns to their students: the Price-to-Earnings Premium (PEP) and Economic Mobility Index (EMI). Both offer a new perspective on measuring the value of higher education and have been incorporated into the methodology for a multitude of national college rankings lists. To access these metrics and the research behind them, Third Way recently developed a new website: https://www.higheredvaluemetrics.org/.
We applaud Third Way for their commitment to ensuring students leave postsecondary education better off than before they started and am excited to dig through this new resource.
What we’re reading
- A Fraught New Era of Scrutinizing Admissions Metrics Has Begun
From The Chronicle of Higher Education, there have been a flurry of news articles about enrollment trends following the SCOTUS ban on race-conscious admissions. It can be confusing and is a highly nuanced topic, and this piece helps make sense of it.
- Colleges, Companies, and Communities Are Working Together to Improve Higher Ed
From Forbes, communities acknowledge career preparation requires collaboration with their local postsecondary institutions.
- Georgia Tech to Study How to Make Lifetime Learning Better
From Inside Higher Ed, the jobs of today and tomorrow require workers to upskill more often, and the Georgia Institute of Technology is building a College of Lifetime Learning filled with programs and research focused on learning and technology.
What we’re listening to
- Reimaging the value of postsecondary education
From AASCU’s new Telling Our Story podcast, higher ed value champions (including our own Jamey Rorison) discuss closing opportunity gaps for today’s students.
- Searching for fit: The impacts of AI in higher ed
From FutureU, how will AI transform higher ed? It’s a question we’re all asking and one we’re actively engaged in at the foundation. This episode features Cal Newport, Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University and takes a look behind the curtain at early implications and ethical considerations of this growing technology.