Help your students help themselves: push early aid application to reap the rewards of better recruitment and greater retention

University Business, Feb, 2005 by Howard Greene, Matthew Greene

Colleges should also make a concerted effort to promote aid applications and reapplications among current students. Many students miss reapplication deadlines during the first year of college and lose eligibility, making it more likely that they will withdraw from school. It is likely that you have current students on campus who might qualify for aid, but never thought to apply, or think it might be too late to do so.

Middle-income families are often surprised by how much aid, both need- and merit-based, they might qualify for. Will more aid applicants increase the burden on a college's aid budget? Perhaps. But we are convinced that helping students access the federal and state dollars available for educational assistance will help every institution attract and retain better students in the long run, students who will persist in their studies through to graduation and be more capable of repaying loans and giving back to their alma mater.

Percentage of Undergraduates Who Did Not File a FAFSA for 1999-2000,
by Dependency Status, Income, and Institution Type

                            Public       Private        Public
                          Four-Year   Not-for-Profit   Two-Year
                                         Four-Year

                             (%)           (%)           (%)

All Undergraduates          42.3           32.9          67.4

All Dependent Students      38.7           24.4          61.5
Less than $20,000           16.6            8.6          33.2
$20,000 to $39,999          26.4           15.0          49.3
$40,000 to $59,999          37.0           20.1          66.7
$60,000 to $79,999          39.8           24.9          71.8
$80,000 or more             55.6           36.9          81.3

All Independent Students    48.5           47.4          70.6
Less than $10,000           21.3           17.5          36.7
$10,000 to 519,999          32.0           27.8          47.4
$20,000 to $29,999          49.5           39.0          65.7
$30,000 to $49,999          67.1           57.7          83.9
$50,000 or more             84.5           79.7          94.6

                            Private
                          For-Profit    Other    Total

                              (%)        (%)      (%)

All Undergraduates           13.3       37.2     49.8

All Dependent Students       12.8       34.0     42.2
Less than $20,000             3.4       15.4     20.5
$20,000 to $39,999            9.4       22.6     31.6
$40,000 to $59,999           19.1       34.8     43.7
$60,000 to $79,999           16.2       36.2     46.2
$80,000 or more              29.1       49.8     56.9

All Independent Students     13.5       40.9     57.1
Less than $10,000             4.7       13.5     24.3
$10,000 to 519,999            6.3       27.4     36.3
$20,000 to $29,999           16.3       40.3     54.7
$30,000 to $49,999           24.0       56.0     73.5
$50,000 or more              38.4       71.5     87.8

Source: American Council on Education