Iowa high schools, universities see more federal aid applicants

Applications for federal student aid are up across Iowa - among high schoolers and university students - mirroring a national trend that education advocates hope continues.

More applicants for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid program, commonly known as FAFSA and often referred to as the 'gateway to college financial aid,” could indicate more students are pursing education beyond high school. That, experts say, is good news, as a stronger higher education pipeline would help Iowa reach its goal of getting 70 percent of Iowans some education or training beyond high school by 2025.

New numbers out this week show 22,000 Iowa high school seniors completed the FAFSA as of June 30, a more than 8 percent increase from the year before.

In conjunction with former Gov. Terry Branstad's push in February for more FAFSA applicants and better education around available aid, Iowa College Aid - a state-run agency focused on making college accessible for all Iowans - debuted a website letting users compare school FAFSA completion rates.

Iowa College Aid also administers the FAFSA Completion Initiative, which since the 2013-14 term has been working with schools to identify seniors who have not completed the application. The participation rate has swelled from 13 schools to 83.

'There is no question in the FAFSA that says, ‘Why are you filing this form?' or ‘What prompted you to do this?' So we don't know,” said Elizabeth Keest Sedrel, communication coordinator for Iowa College Aid. 'But we have a pretty good idea that all these factors that are new ... we have a pretty good idea that that's helping.”

In Iowa, the number of high school seniors who completed federal aid applications nationally in the last application period swelled 9 percent, according to the National College Access Network.

At the university level, Iowa's three public institutions already are reporting a rise in interest for the current FAFSA application term that will remain open until June 30, 2018.

Between Oct. 1 - when the new application period opened - and mid-July, the University of Iowa has received 36,332 federal aid applications from undergraduates, including new and returning students, representing a 20 percent increase over the 30,248 applications for the entire 18-month 2016-2017 application term.

Iowa State University is reporting 41,907 applicants through July 13 - up 12 percent over the 37,531 for the entire previous application period between Jan. 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017.

The University of Northern Iowa has received 9,148 applications to date for the current application period - up 10 percent from the 8,280 received through the same period last year.

Sedrel said an expanded application window is partly behind the increase.

This year's application period started Oct. 1 instead of Jan. 1, meaning students were given three extra months to file. But with numbers - at about 10 months in - already above the previous entire 18-month period, other factors are in play, officials said.

'Both U of I and ISU hit record enrollment last year,” Sedrel said. 'So that means they're going to have record numbers repeating. In addition to the increase in high school seniors, we've got more students coming back.”

The earlier application date prompted organizations like Iowa College Aid to run awareness campaigns.

'We've used the Oct. 1 date to re-engage currently enrolled students in the importance of filing their FAFSA in a timely manner,” said Tim Bakula, interim director of financial aid for UNI. 'Marketing efforts were geared toward current students having their FAFSA completed before leaving campus at the end of the spring semester.”

Beth Cole, senior associate director of systems in the UI Office of Student Financial Aid, said the upward national trend correlates with the earlier date - not necessarily Iowa's increased tuition hikes.

'I would attribute the increase more to the publicity than to other variables at the school such as tuition,” she said.

Still, with Iowa expecting a rise in the percentage of high school graduates who identify as minority or first-generation students, aid continues to be of paramount importance in sustaining and growing an educated workforce.

'If people are looking at tuition being higher for the regent universities, they're more likely to say ‘Yeah, I need some help,' ” Sedrel said.

The Board of Regents' three public universities in recent years approved last-minute tuition increases after the Legislature fell short of the board's funding requests. This summer, in hopes of avoiding more late hikes, the board is meeting with lawmakers and other constituents to map out five-year tuition plans for the campuses.

University leaders are expected to share their five-year tuition proposals in August, and UI President Bruce Harreld - for one - said he wants steeper increases that bring Iowa in line with more of its peer institutions.

Through the federal student aid program, students can apply for grants, loans, and work-study funds to attend college or a career school. It can help students not only land federal financial aid, but state and college-based aid as well.

'Everyone should start with the FAFSA,” Sedrel said. 'If they want any kind of financial aid for college, they should file a FAFSA.”

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