The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) provides access to the largest source of financial aid to pay for a 2- or 4- year college or vocational school. Students who complete it are more likely to enroll in and persist through college (Debaun, 2019; McKinney & Novak, 2013; Novak & McKinney, 2011). However, financial aid funds often go unused because many students do not complete the FAFSA (Bahr et al., 2018; Nietzel, 2019). There are numerous obstacles to FAFSA completion such as the time burden of completing the form, fear of disclosing personal information to the government, lack of access to tax information, assumptions that FAFSA should only be completed by those going to 2- or 4-year colleges, uneven support of school counselors, and challenges for undocumented families (Kim, 2021).
Universal FAFSA policies require students to submit the FAFSA or a state financial aid application before they graduate from high school (Burke, 2023) or complete an “opt-out waiver.” States that have enacted such policies have found that effective implementation of FAFSA completion legislation requires a process that is not rushed and allows time for planning after the law is passed. In some cases, FAFSA legislation is linked to state aid and funding programs as well. Recent studies have found that states with mandatory or universal FAFSA policies experienced notable upticks in FAFSA completion in their first year of implementation (Granville et al., 2025; Martinez-Alvarado, 2025). The policies have been particularly effective in low-income districts and schools with previously low FAFSA completion rates (DeBaun, 2025).
New Jersey passed A1181/S2054 legislation in January 2024 making completion of the FAFSA a requirement for high school graduation unless families opt out (New Jersey, 2024), joining at least 13 other states which have either passed similar legislation or are considering it. The intent is to increase the numbers of students receiving financial support for post-secondary education or vocational training and, ultimately, the numbers pursuing and completing such education. Previous requirements of this sort have shown especially strong impacts on low-income students. For example, in Louisiana, the first state to pass such a policy, one in three public high schools had a FAFSA completion rate of at least 65 percent before it went into effect and as of 2020, four in five did (Granville, 2020).
The city of Newark informed the work at the state level when it passed a FAFSA completion policy in its public school district in June 2021. Since then, the city and state have seen an ongoing upward trend in FAFSA completion. According to the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) FAFSA Tracker, as of September 5, 2025, the state of New Jersey was second in the nation for FAFSA completion with 70% of seniors completing the form and 80.5% of Newark seniors doing so. The city also recently engaged in a FAFSA Challenge with Camden funded by the New Jersey Children’s Foundation (NJCF) and Camden Education Fund (TAPinto Newark, 2024). Newark won the challenge earning additional funds for the schools with the highest completion rates. As part of its implementation, the city provided support to students and families both through the school district and its community partners. Support was offered both in person and online as well as in English and Spanish to reach as many families as possible. In year two of implementation, more online and in-person office hours in the evenings and on weekends were added to accommodate the varied needs of the community.
As the state of New Jersey enters its second year of implementation of this policy, we recommend that districts take time to plan intentionally how they roll it out in schools and make improvements based on what they learned in the first year. It is critical that they provide multi-pronged support to students and families and leverage community partners in order to improve access to post-secondary education for all.
References:
Bahr, S., Sparks, D., Hoyer, K. M., National Center for Education Statistics (ED), & American Institutes for Research (AIR). (2018). Why didn’t students complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)? A detailed look. NCES 2018-061. National Center for Education Statistics.
Burke, L. (2023). Should states require high school students to complete the FAFSA? Higher Ed Dive.
Debaun, B. (Apr. 4, 2019). Survey data strengthen association between FAFSA completion and enrollment. National College Attainment Network (NCAN).
DeBaun, B. (March 13, 2025). New Studies Show Impacts of Universal FAFSA on Enrollment. National College Attainment Network (NCAN). https://www.ncan.org/news/695986/New-Studies-Show-Impacts-of-Universal-FAFSA-on-Enrollment.htm
Granville, P. (July 29, 2020). Should states make the FAFSA Mandatory? The Century Foundation.
Granville, P., Ramirez-Mendoza, J. & Mikoulinskii, J. (February 19, 2025). Mandatory FAFSA Policies Have Had Immediate Impact. The Century Foundation. https://tcf.org/content/report/mandatory-fafsa-policies-have-had-immediate-impact/
Kim, E. H. (2021). Improving Access to Post-Secondary Education Through FAFSA Completion. Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies. Rutgers University-Newark. https://rutgers.app.box.com/s/xmhyfsbeps8zhppiz91vv4priakazst5
Martinez-Alvarado, S. (Feb. 26, 2025). A Scan of State Universal FAFSA Policies. EdTrust. https://edtrust.org/rti/a-scan-of-state-universal-fafsa-policies/
McKinney, L., & Novak, H. (2013). The relationship between FAFSA filing and persistence among first-year community college students. Community College Review, 41(1), 63–85.
National College Attainment Network (NCAN). (2025). NCAN’s FAFSA Tracker. https://www.ncan.org/page/fafsatracker
Nietzel, M. T. (Aug. 12, 2019). It’s time to require completion of the FAFSA for high school graduation. Forbes.
Novak, H., & McKinney, L. (2011). The consequences of leaving money on the table: Examining persistence among students who do not file a FAFSA. Journal of Student Financial Aid, 41(3), 5–23.
State of New Jersey. (Jan. 16, 2024). Governor Murphy Signs Legislation Requiring High School Students to Complete Financial Aid Applications. https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/news/562024/20240116l.shtml
Tap Into Newark. (2024). High School Seniors in Newark Top Camden in Contest to Fill Out Most FAFSA Forms. https://www.tapinto.net/towns/newark/sections/education/articles/high-school-seniors-in-newark-top-camden-in-contest-to-fill-out-most-fafsa-forms