States Say, Forget FAFSA. We Got You

The FAFSA has long been a sticking point for students, with billions of dollars in federal aid going unclaimed because they simply give up on it, or don’t complete it correctly. An overhaul last year meant to simplify the process only made things worse, with delays and technical problems that led to even lower completion rates and contributed to a decline of 7 percentage points in the proportion of high school seniors going directly to college, according to the National College Attainment Network, or NCAN. This fall, the new form has been released in phases, to test how well it works, and the U.S. House overwhelmingly passed an act requiring the FAFSA to be released by Oct. 1 every year, a measure that now heads to the Senate. But some states, including Washington, are proposing to work around the FAFSA altogether and find ways to automatically award financial aid to families that need it.