MPS looks at requiring seniors to fill out FAFSA as way to nudge them toward higher education
Hoping to secure financial aid for more graduating seniors, Milwaukee Public Schools administrators are looking to add a new graduation requirement: filling out a FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
The idea is to urge students and their families to take an initial step toward higher education.
As of Tuesday, administrators said, just 42% of MPS students graduating this year have voluntarily filled out the form, which helps students get federal grants, loans, scholarships and other financial aid for higher education. That means about three out of five students either may not be considering higher education, or may be leaving money on the table that could make it attainable”?
While six other states already require FAFSA completion for high school graduation, Wisconsin is not among them. Administrators said no other area schools require it.
At a meeting of the MPS School Board Committee on Legislation, Rules and Policies Tuesday, the five members voted unanimously in support of the new requirement. It will go before the full board Thursday.
Students would be able to get exempted from the requirement with staff approval for a range of reasons, with their privacy protected, administrators said.
In line with guidance from the National College Attainment Network, students could be exempted because they have undocumented parents, because they can't access parental financial information, or with parental permission, under the proposal.
"We will not be documenting why a student was waived from this requirement, and they will be considered as meeting the requirement," said John Hill, director of college and career readiness for MPS.
The goal in requiring the FAFSA completion is to help more families "see college as an option regardless of their financial background," Hill said.
“With the rising cost of postsecondary education, it is critical for us to prepare our students to access college, just as we prepare them academically," Hill said. "Research shows that many students of color and limited income students foreclose on the idea of college early on.”
Filling out the FAFSA can lead to aid not just for traditional four-year colleges but also for technical certificates, cosmetology school, and college equivalency programs, Hill said.
Wisconsin ranks 38th in the country for its FAFSA completion rate (44.7%), according to the National College Attainment Network. The organization's analysis found Wisconsin students who graduated in 2021 missed out on $50 million in Pell Grants by not completing FAFSA forms.
UWM Chancellor Mark Mone wrote to the school board in support of the requirement. Looking at MPS graduates attending UWM, Mone said most who filled out the FAFSA got Pell Grants. And according to data, a higher percentage of students who didn't fill out the FAFSA could have been eligible.
Mone said the retention rate for students with Pell grants is 20% higher than those who didn't apply for financial aid.
FAFSA completion rates have suffered in the pandemic, a report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum showed.
For the class of 2019 at public schools, 53% of students statewide and 62% of Milwaukee students completed FAFSAs. For the class of 2021, completion rates were 46% for the state and 47% for Milwaukee, according to data provided by the Forum.
More: MPS students earn more than $100 million in college scholarships, breaking records again
Contact Rory Linnane at rory.linnane@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @RoryLinnane.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: MPS likely to require graduating seniors to fill out FAFSA
