The number of New Jersey students who filed federal financial aid forms dropped this year, just as the state is implementing a new law that will require public high school seniors to fill out the forms in order to graduate.
The law, signed in January, requires the classes of 2025, 2026 and 2027 to fill out the federal Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA, as a requirement for getting a public high school diploma.
The form is used to determine how much federal student aid a graduate can get to attend college, and New Jersey officials want more seniors to fill it out to save money and increase the number of people getting a higher education.
But, only a little more than half of New Jersey high school seniors filled out their FAFSA forms this year.
After federal delays in producing and processing a new version of the FAFSA form caused chaos in college admissions this spring, 54.7% of New Jersey high school seniors finished the form — down 6 percentage points from last year, according to the National College Attainment Network, citing August 2 figures.
That meant 6,204 fewer New Jersey students filled out the form compared to the previous year.
The U.S. Department of Education announced last week that for most students, the forms will again be available three months later than usual.
Kim Cook, head of the nonprofit National College Attainment Network, said students would be further harmed if the problems with the forms continue this academic year.
“The unprecedented numbers we are observing in this class’s data make it clear that we can’t afford to have another delayed FAFSA,” she said. “We know that FAFSA opens the door to college; we need that door ready to walk through on-time and without complication.”
According to the network, students who did not fill out the form left about $103 million in federal Pell Grants on the table.
That number is expected to shrink significantly in New Jersey with the new graduation requirement, as schools are expected to focus on getting all students to fill out the FAFSA.
Under the pilot program, which can be renewed after three years, students can submit a waiver or speak to a school counselor to get an exemption from the graduation requirement. Undocumented students who are not eligible for federal aid but do qualify as NJ Dreamers can fill out the New Jersey Alternative Financial Aid Application instead.
Nationally, the percentage of students finishing the forms fell to 46% from about 53% this year. For the past two years New Jersey has ranked ninth in the nation in the percentage of seniors completing the forms, said Bill DeBaun, a senior director at the National College Attainment Network.
Filling out the forms is particularly important for low-income and first generation college students with fewer resources.
“When we look at New Jersey high schools by school income level and percentage of students of color enrolled, we do see big FAFSA completion gaps,” DeBaun said.
There’s still time before the Sept. 15 deadline for this year’s high school graduates to apply for state funds for college, state officials said. New Jersey received $100,000 in federal assistance to get the word out about the FAFSA.
The Higher Education Student Assistance Authority is offering free, online one-on-one sessions with financial aid experts throughout August to answer students’ questions. Appointments are available through the authority’s website, and are also open to students who already submitted their FAFSA forms but need assistance correcting errors or providing additional information requested by the U.S. Department of Education.
Evening webinars about the forms are also available in Spanish and English.
Students must fill out the forms to see if they are eligible for federal aid as well as Tuition Aid Grants from the state. The forms are also required to see if students are eligible for the New Jersey College Promise program, which provides tuition money for students under certain income levels. Most universities and colleges require the forms to determine who receives scholarships, as well.
Under the traditional timeline, the FAFSA forms are available Oct. 1, and students and families fill them out and send them to the U.S. Department of Education, which determines how much federal aid they should receive, said Alejandro Guiral, president of the New Jersey Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
After three to five days of processing, the department usually determines what amount of federal assistance applicants will receive, and sends the forms to the state Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, known as HESAA, and the students’ chosen schools.
HESAA then determines how much state aid the student is eligible for, and notifies the school, which decides which scholarships or grants it can offer the student.
The final package — with state, federal and campus aid — was traditionally ready for students to review by January. This year, the form was not available until January for most families, and students learned what federal aid they received in mid-March. The amount of state aid they were eligible to receive wasn’t available until the beginning of May.
“They had a long time to wait,” Guiral said. “There’s been a certain percentage maybe that didn’t choose the school they wanted, maybe they went to another college that was not their first or second choice, because of the delay in accurate information about the financial aid package.”
On the new FAFSA form used this year, information from parents’ 2022 tax returns was fed into their children’s applications, although the process was poorly executed, according to a report by the U.S. Inspector General last week.
When parents do not want their income considered in a student’s application, it severely limits how much need-based aid the student would be eligible for, Guiral said. Students in such circumstances may be able to apply independently from their parents, after discussing the matter with financial aid officers.
The wait this year was far longer for students with a parent who did not have a social security number, he said. Their forms were not even ready until mid-March, shutting them out of campus-based aid that was distributed on a first-come-first-served basis.
“Keep trying,” Guiral said to students still hoping to get financial aid for the fall college semester. “The actual application really has become much more simple.” And some colleges will admit students well past the official deadlines.
Guiral’s group is advocating for the department to roll out next year’s application correctly. They are also training administrators for the 2025-2026 school year and are encouraging seniors and their families to set up their accounts with the U.S. Department of Education, so they are ready when the forms become available.
Stories by Tina Kelley
NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this post.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Tina Kelley may be reached at tkelley@njadvancemedia.com.