Completing federal financial aid paperwork, of the FAFSA is the first step towards qualifying for financial aid in the form of need-based aid or federal student loans. FAFSA completion is also required for a student to qualify for many institutional or state need-based scholarships. Yet, the complexities of the financial aid application process deter many students from completing FAFSA and other financial aid paperwork. Our goal for FAFSA completion is to increase in Mississippi by the March 31, HELP Grant deadline. The HELP Grant is a grant from the State of Mississippi that pays full tuition and fees for public colleges.
In 2016, with the opening of the FAFSA 3 months earlier, we recognized that the FAFSA needs of the state were exceeding the capacity of our staff. A partnership model was built on working with community colleges around the state to support early FAFSA completion for high school students.
In summer 2019, the Woodward Hines Education Foundation hired Higher Ed Insight to evaluate the FAFSA Completion Partnership program. This evaluation was based on data from two sources: interviews with community college leaders and a survey to the high school counselors. All nine of the community college partners were interviewed and the counselor survey had a high response rate of 35%.
2019 SUCCESSES WITH SCALING SERVICES AND PROVIDING TRAINING
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Established FAFSA completion partnerships with all 15 community colleges in Mississippi
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Increased FAFSA Trainings by 33%, reaching a total of 339 partners
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All three years of the FAFSA completion partnerships there has been an increase in FAFSA completion, thanks to partner efforts.
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Community colleges and high school counselors are utilizing the resources provided by Get2College.
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The Get2College Corps helped increase capacity for most community college partners.
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Get2College plays an important role as a “neutral” third party expert on financial aid and building awareness. There are ongoing needs across the state surrounding generating buy-in about the importance of financial aid among (a) students and parents, (b) high school counselors, and (c) community college staff including upper level administration.
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More high schools hosted additional FAFSA days due to the FAFSA completion partnership and increase capacity and time.
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A strong partnership has been established between high schools and community colleges.
Higher Ed Insight's FAFSA Completion Project Evaluation