New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Many state high schools went against U.S. trend on college aid applications
The percentage of students who filled out the federal student aid application for college dipped nationwide last school year because of COVID-19 — but some Connecticut schools saw gains instead.
A group of 26 high schools that took part in the state’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid Challenge raised their completion rates by a cumulative 4 percent last year, compared with the 2019-20 school year.
The country’s FAFSA completion rate declined by 4 percent, in comparison, while the state’s rate overall stayed level, at 55 percent.
Some schools saw huge improvements in the number of students who applied for the aid.
The Synergy Alternative Program in East Hartford, an alternative high school, saw completion rates grow by 43 percent. A big part of that success, according to state officials, was the school’s partnership with Manchester Community College: Synergy used incentives like gift cards and T-shirts to get students excited about completing the applications.
The FAFSA Challenge essentially put the onus on individual schools and districts to lift their application rates, with the help of resources from the state.
Gov. Ned Lamont and Connecticut Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker announced the winners of the 2021 FAFSA Challenge on Friday, and also announced that the program will expand this school year.
The top performing schools were Synergy, Orville H. Platt High School in Meriden, West Haven High School in West Haven and P-TECH Norwalk in Norwalk.
Schools were challenged to increase their completion rates by 5 percent, which nearly half of the 26 schools accomplished.
According to the state, FAFSA completion is a strong indicator of postsecondary education.
About 90 percent of high school seniors who complete the FAFSA application attend college right after high school, compared with 55 percent of students who do not submit an application.
“Even prior to the pandemic, thousands of eligible Connecticut students failed to submit the FAFSA, leaving millions in federal student aid unclaimed each year,” Lamont said in a press release. “During a particularly complicated school year, these schools — and all FAFSA Challenge participants — stepped up to the plate, recognizing the importance of helping all students access and achieve their college and career goals.”
The FAFSA challenge was created in December 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in much lower FAFSA completion rates across the state in the early part of the 2020-21 school year.
In Connecticut, FAFSA completions from October to December in 2020 were down 16 percent compared with the same period in 2019.
“We know that all of our students have big dreams for their own futures, but we also know that the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced new challenges and complexities for families,” Russell-Tucker said in a press release.
Lamont and RussellTucker also recognized six schools that did not participate in the challenge but did increase their FAFSA completion rates. Those six schools are: Great Path Academy at Manchester Community College, Bristol Central High School, Middletown High School, Achievement First Hartford Academy, Brookfield High School and Cheshire High School.
This year, the state is expanding the program to 53 schools across 25 districts.
Participating schools are encouraged to partner with a local higher education institution or college-access nonprofit.
The state is hoping to reach a completion rate of 60 percent this school year, which would be 5 percent higher than the rate in June of this year, officials said.