Some Colleges May Use the FAFSA in Unexpected Ways

College applicants can demonstrate their desire to attend a school by visiting campus, interviewing with admissions counselors and following up on their applications.

But they may not know that colleges can gauge their intent to enroll through a little-known method -- analyzing an innocuous, nonfinancial question on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

Once colleges gain that tidbit of predictive power, experts say that some may use it to determine a student's aid award or even whether to admit an applicant.

Here's what to know about this measure of intent and its potential effect on financial aid awards and admissions.

-- Where colleges are looking: On the electronic FAFSA form, students choose up to 10 institutions at a time to receive their financial information.

Although the instructions don't direct students to list schools in order of preference, research has found that placement on an applicant's list corresponds with the likelihood of that student enrolling.

"They're figuring that the schools on the bottom may not be as popular for you as the ones on the top," says Kalman Chany, author of "Paying for College Without Going Broke, 2015 Edition" and president of Campus Consultants, a firm that helps families maximize eligibility for aid.

Avoid these [common FAFSA mistakes.]

Research released on 153 college campuses by Noel-Levitz, which advises colleges on student recruitment, found students who listed an institution first on the FAFSA enrolled at a 64 percent rate. That rate, called the yield, dropped to 22 percent for students' second-listed school and 16 percent for the third school .

The correlation drops as students list more schools, says Galen Graber, associate vice president at Noel-Levitz. But even students who sent FAFSA forms to 10 schools still enrolled at the top-listed school 28 percent of the time.

Knowing which applicants are starry-eyed about a college can help the school award financial aid dollars more strategically and increase the percentage of accepted students who enroll, an important data point for some college rankings. U.S News uses admission rate, not yield , as a small factor in its rankings.

"It's the morphing of what financial aid has become," says Frank Palmasani, college counselor at Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox, Illinois and author of "Right College, Right Price: The New System for Discovering the Best College Fit at the Best Price."

It's become less about awarding aid based on need or merit and more about using aid dollars to entice students, he says.

-- It may not be widespread: When it come to the popularity of this strategy, experts disagree on how common it is.

"I called five admission officers and all five said that they used it or they knew of others that did," says David Hawkins, executive director for educational content and policy at the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

His organization considers it concerning enough that it submitted comments to the Department of Education, stating that the organization has been able to "confirm independently that some colleges use the FAFSA college lists for recruitment and admission purposes."

Graber at Noel-Levitz, on the other hand, says that colleges are mostly using this data point to help understand and analyze their own admissions statistics.

That's how DePaul University in Chicago uses it. Admissions officer Jon Boeckenstedt, associate vice president of enrollment management and marketing, wrote a blog post recently examining the predictive power of the FAFSA position.

He wrote that, "We at DePaul have never, ever, ever used FAFSA position for any reason other than to project enrollment patterns of the group. We have never used it to award more or less aid; we have never used it to decide whether or not to admit anyone."

When it comes to other schools doing it, "It's theoretically possible, but I don't know anyone who does it," Boeckenstedt said in an interview with U.S. News.

-- How it affects admissions and aid: The "FAFSA position" probably wouldn't convert a definite rejection letter into one of admittance -- or vice versa -- but it could be the tipping point between acceptance and a spot on the wait list, says Hawkins.

If schools are using this information, says Hawkins, it is more likely that financial aid could be affected than admission.

Explore more [college financial aid resources.]

Colleges may extend a strong financial aid offer to a student who listed it first on the FAFSA and set aside less aid for a student who lists it last, with the assumption that the applicant isn't planning on attending anyway, says Hawkins.

Or maybe they'll strategize differently. "If you're salivating to go there, they don't have to give you as much as someone who's price-sensitive about the school," speculates Chany.

-- What applicants can do: Many families may never apply to a school that uses FAFSA position in admissions decisions. And many others won't be the kinds of candidates to have it affect any aspect of their admissions or aid decision.

Still, students can avoid the issue altogether by listing the schools in alphabetical order, says Chany.

But Hawkins warns that the colleges may not pick up on the alphabetical ranking. He's hoping for a systemic change. "At a minimum, there should be some sort of disclosure to students and families that colleges could use this to determine interest in an institution," he says.

Discover 10 tips for an [effective college visit.]

His organization has advised that the Office of Federal Student Aid not make the list available to schools. Another idea is to give students the option to opt into sending a randomized or alphabetized list or opt out completely.

Palmasani, the college counselor, notes that schools have other methods for gauging a student's intent to enroll, including whether they've visited a campus and made contacts at the school. "This is information they can garner in other ways," he says.

Instead, he advises students to not put all their eggs in one basket and apply to a variety of schools, from flagship state schools to small liberal arts colleges, to get a range of financial aid offers and price points.

Trying to fund your education? Get tips and more in the U.S. News Paying for College center.

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