FAFSA completions are on the upswing.  

An estimated 56% of current high school seniors could end up completing the federal financial aid application this year, if current trends hold, said Bill DeBaun, senior director for data and strategic initiatives at the National College Attainment Network. 

That would be the highest FAFSA completion rate since the nonprofit began tracking it in 2017 — “all-time highs,” DeBaun said at a press briefing yesterday afternoon. 

Filling out the FAFSA is a first step in accessing federal financial aid. More students completing the form also means more low-income students identified as eligible for federal Pell Grants. The Pell Grant is also a key indicator colleges look at when distributing additional institutional aid. That all translates to more financial aid for those who need it most.

So far, 43% of high school seniors have finished the form, according to NCAN’s tracker, which includes completions through Feb. 13. That’s up 10.6% from 2023, the last year the form opened on its usual Oct. 1 date. (Completions are also ahead of where they were at the same point last year, although the form opened late.) 

📚 Read more: El Paso families turn to FAFSA info sessions for help with 2026-27 financial aid (via our partner El Paso Matters) 

The progress this year comes after a rough time for FAFSA. Technical issues plagued the rollout of a revised form two years ago, hurting completion rates, temporarily locking out mixed-status families, and forcing some students to make college decisions without financial aid offers. 

📚 Read more: How the FAFSA debacle is playing out in one college counselor’s office (via our partner WBEZ, in 2024) 

But now, things are looking up, NCAN staff members said yesterday. The simplified form known as Better FAFSA is finally working well and the Federal Student Aid office has addressed pain points. Two more states, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, will require FAFSA completion for high school graduation for the class of 2027.

📚 Read more: A historic look shows FAFSA completion rates aren’t quite as bleak as you might think (via yours truly, in 2024) 

What’s also notable about the potential for 56% FAFSA completion is that there isn’t usually a lot of variance in the rate most years. “None of this is about juicing FAFSA completion for its own sake,” DeBaun said. Rather, it’s a sign of continued demand for college.

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Elsewhere on Open Campus

From Pittsburgh: Maddy Franklin at our partner Pittsburgh’s Public Source asked the city’s 10 universities: What are your policies if ICE shows up on campus? 

Six of the 10 responded. The University of Pittsburgh was the only one to detail how its supporting students, beyond sharing information online.

Amy Morona at our partner Signal Ohio did a similar check-in with the state’s 14 public universities and found few publicly share any information about what faculty members or students should do if federal immigration agents show up on campus.

From Berkeley: UC Berkeley was among a slew of universities that cut ties with the Ph.D. Project following a Department of Education investigation, reports Felicia Mello at our partner Berkeleyside. 

The Ph.D. Project has helped students of color in doctorate degrees in business since the 1990s. The Education Department argues that it violates federal anti-discrimination law by restricting admission to its programs by race. The administration has also launched dozens of investigations into diversity efforts at universities across the country, including at UC Berkeley. 

“All the programs that were being scrutinized helped create more belonging for Black students and queer and Latinx and Asian students,” Antonio Ingram, senior counsel at the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, told Felicia. 

From North Carolina:  Some faculty members in the University of North Carolina system say a new policy requiring the all course syllabi to be posted in a public, searchable database exposes them to harassment and security threats, writes Brianna Atkinson, our reporter at WUNC.

North Carolina is the latest state to impose such a syllabi policy, which critics say chills speech on campus and creates a culture where faculty members feel surveilled, particularly by outside watchdog groups. 

In announcing the syllabi policy in December, System President Peter Hans said “more transparency is the right response” to the scrutiny facing higher ed right now. He denied WUNC’s request to further discuss faculty safety. 

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