Class of 2022 Missed Out on $3.6B in College Grants, Report Shows
"High school graduates left billions of dollars in free college aid on the table by not filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, in 2022. Among the class of 2022, 44% of high school graduates skipped the FAFSA — and eligible students left behind $3.58 billion worth of Pell Grant money — per a January analysis by the National College Attainment Network, or NCAN," NewdWallet reports.
..."The FAFSA nonparticipation rates featured in NCAN’s analysis could change in the coming months, because the high school class of 2022 still has time to complete the FAFSA.
The 2022-2023 application will remain open until June 30, 2023. And students enrolled in college can still receive federal aid for the entire current academic year, including Pell Grants and direct loans, says Jill Desjean, a senior policy analyst at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
However, states and universities typically have their own, earlier FAFSA deadlines for students to qualify for other types of aid. Many of those deadlines have passed for 2022 high school graduates who enrolled in college this past fall.
Fill out the FAFSA as soon as possible after it opens ahead of the academic year during which you plan to start college. The FAFSA for the 2023-2024 school year opened on Oct. 1, 2022.
'The earlier you file, the better, but students who miss a deadline shouldn’t just give up,' advises Desjean. 'Especially with schools, where [students] might be able to request an exception to the deadline if they have a valid reason for missing it.'"
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Publication Date: 2/10/2023
