The Colorado FAFSA Completion Initiative. Dr. Beth Bean Chief Research Officer Colorado Department of Higher Education August, 2014

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1 The Colorado FAFSA Completion Initiative Dr. Beth Bean Chief Research Officer Colorado Department of Higher Education August, 2014

2 Colorado Discussion Highlights Overview of Financial Aid Allocation in CO FAFSA Completion Initiative FAFSA Completion Partnerships Lessons Learned

3 Landscape By % of all jobs in Colorado (3 million jobs) will require education beyond high school College Completion Goal of 66% by 2020 Performance Funding Colorado Paradox In bottom three states for funding per FTE Top three states for degrees per $100K

4 Goals of new financial aid allocation method Align allocation with goals of Master plan Target aid to the students least likely to complete by narrowing to Pell Eligible Include full and part-time students Create incentives for institutions to promote progress/completion Predictability 4

5 Financial Aid Redesign Narrows allocations to Pell eligible students; Rewards progress through the pipeline as credits are attained; Creates institution incentive for timely completion; Hold harmless in the first year to protect students in the pipeline. 5

6 Financial Aid: Sources and Amounts Average awards per student recipient: Average Pell Grant = $3,280 Average State Need-Based Grant = $1,130 Average State Work-Study Award =$2,284 Average Institutional Grant =$5,360 Aid by Type Total Dollars Federal Pell Grant $ 361,500,944 Federal Loans $ 1,187,161,265 Federal Other $ 47,640,194 State Aid $ 106,699,533 Institutional Aid $ 489,887,451 Other Aid $ 82,354,401 Total $ 2,275,243,788 6

7 $120,000,000 State Financial Aid Appropriation History FY to FY $100,000,000 $13 M $13 M $13 M $13 M $14 M $16 M $80,000,000 $8 M $9 M $10 M $11 M $15 M $12 M $15 M $2 M $17 M $17 M $17 M $17 M $16 M $2 M $ M $ M $ M $ M $16 M $ M $60,000,000 $15 M $15 M $15 M $2 M $7 M $6 M $2 M $40,000,000 $20,000,000 $46 M $46 M $52 M $60 M $67 M $74 M $74 M $74 M $75 M $74 M $79 M $ Need-Based Grants Merit-Based Grants Work-Based Aid Categorical Programs

8 WHY is FAFSA important? H&R BLOCK 90% 8

9 National Data 90% of students who complete a FAFSA in senior year of high school enroll in college within 12 months U.S. Dept of Education University of Chicago 45% of students who DO NOT complete a FAFSA in senior year enroll in college within 12 months H&R Block #1 most accurate predictor if a student plans to enroll and persist in college or postsecondary training U.S. Dept of Education

10 FAFSA Completion for Colorado All Students 600, , , , , , Source: IFAP Application Volume

11 FAFSA As of August 6, ,344 Filed Applications Goal 550,000

12 ROI Goal: To Not Leave Money on the Table $40 million annually for a $500,000 annual investment % Colorado FAFSA Completion Rate = 85% College Enrollment 54% National FAFSA Completion Rate = 90% College Enrollment 10,200 High School Seniors missed out on $40 million in Pell Grants Eligible for Free & Reduced Lunch College Access Team helped Colorado students recoup $10 million in Pell for the academic year

13 FAFSA Project Purpose Provide districts and schools with FAFSA completion information to assist in guiding intentional, individualized conversations with student and their families. Leverage as primary indicator of enrollment in education beyond high school Increase the number of students who enter and complete a degree or credential Maximize resources by connecting school counselors, students, and families through FAFSA Provide state leadership for FAFSA completion to assist local-level efforts

14 FAFSA Completion Project Goals Create simple tool for Colorado district and schools to identify students who needs assistance in accessing higher education Plug-and-play tool No need for additional software or technology Maximized time for current personnel Minimal training of users Accurately match students with schools/districts (4% error rate) Help FAFSA be fun and simple remove the fear Emphasize importance of FAFSA as indicator to higher education Align FAFSA and higher ed matriculation data points Unique identifier (mountain goat) History of progress year-over-year 14

15 Complex Data Simplified Data agreements for student-level info Access levels with authentication Attorney General thumbs-up Copy of Agreement Push system to districts 15

16 FAFSA Completion Portal Elegant, Efficient Simplicity 16

17 17 Home Page

18 18 Aggregate Data by High Schools

19 19 Log-in Page

20 20 District-level Student Data

21 21 Student-level Data Report

22 22 Student-level Report

23 High School Feedback Reports

24 Example of a Non-District Partners Denver Scholarship Foundation Required proof of FAFSA completion for scholarship eligibility Student challenges Changed Scholarship Policies Use state FAFSA data to confirm filed applications in a timely manner

25 Next Steps.. Additional Data Agreements with partner districts Expansion of FAFSA outcome reporting Increased Outreach Efforts

26 Questions? Thank You! FAFSA Completion Portal: Dr. Beth Bean, Chief Research Officer,

27 Back to School Success Training Using FAFSA Completion as a Measure of College Readiness Bryan Dickason / Tae Kang California Student Aid Commission

28 Agenda Cal Grant Basics FAFSA Completion Initiative Cal Grant Deadlines and Timelines WebGrants FAFSA and Cal Grant GPA Reports GPA Best Practices 2

29 Basic Cal Grant Eligibility *U.S. citizen or permanent U.S. resident Meet Selective Service requirements *Have a Social Security number Maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress Not owe a grant repayment or be in default on a student loan Not be incarcerated Not have earned a BA/BS degree *California Resident Attend an eligible California school Be enrolled at least halftime High School GPA required (Entitlement) * These requirements are supplanted by other eligibility criteria for AB 540 students 3

30 Cal Grant Program Eligibility Cal Grant A 3.00 High School GPA Low to Middle Income (see income chart) Cal Grant B 2.00 High School GPA Low Income (see income chart) Cal Grant C Low to Middle Income (see income chart) Occupational or technical Score in top 7,761 4

31 Cal Grant Award Amounts Cal Grant Award Amounts CCC CSU UC Independent For Profit $1,648* $ 5,472 $ 12,192 $ 9,084 $4,000 * Cal Grant B Access only

32 Cal Grant Income & Asset Ceilings 5

33 6 High School Entitlement Cal Grant A and B A complete Cal Grant application consists of: A Financial Application FAFSA or Dream Application A school certified High School GPA Recent high school graduates or equivalent (GED, CHSPE) 2014/15 AY: graduated on or after July 1, 2012 Meet minimum GPA and income/need requirements Potentially unlimited number of awards

34 High School Entitlement Awards Award Year Count of award offers , , , , (upcoming year) 138,157 (30% increase over 5 years) REASONS FOR GROWTH Non-SSN Pilot Project with LAUSD Dream Act Students Increased FAFSA + GPA applications Increased outreach efforts

35 CA Dream Application On-time 20,701 26,989 Late 16,532 6,882 Total 37,233 33,871 Cal Grant offers* 6,236 6,441 * High school entitlement counts only Dream Application Enhancements underway for January 2015 implementation

36 FAFSA Completion Initiative Federal initiative to increase FAFSA completion by the sharing of submission data by high school and district Student Aid Commission participates FAFSA completion data since 2011 Comprehensive GPA and FAFSA/Dream Act reports Available with WebGrants account 8

37 Application Stats Cohort Graduation Rate - Public Schools* Graduates Cohort Graduation Rate , , % , , % , , % An additional 35,000 high school seniors graduate on average from private schools. In a given year, about 435,000 high school seniors graduate from CA high school. * Numbers provided from CDE website

38 More data Total High Schools GPAs Received for Year 436,094 # Paper GPAs 26,974 # Electronic GPAs 157,413 # Non-SSN GPAs: 251,707 A scenario by the numbers 540,000 High School Seniors 435,000 Graduates 230,000 Completed (FAFSA + GPA) on-time 138,157 Cal Grant award offers

39 9 The History of All-Senior GPA Submission LAUSD piloted in 2011 District submitted the GPA for every senior GPA submissions increase from 19,000 to over 37,000. Resulting in more than 2,000 additional Cal Grant awards. Now duplicated with similar results in San Francisco, San Diego, Oakland, Kern, Elk Grove and 70 other school districts.

40 Timelines and Deadlines There are two Cal Grant deadlines March 2, the most important one Cal Grant for use at any California college September 2 For Cal Grants, but may only be used at a community college For students not selected based on March 2 submission For students who missed the March 2 deadline Far fewer awards available 10

41 11 WebGrants for Students webgrants4students.org Students can verify receipt of application components Students can notify CSAC of college of attendance Demographic changes, address, Confirm high school graduation Cal Grant C Transfer Entitlement eligibility confirmation

42 12 WebGrants for Schools Upload GPA by batch or key individual GPA More secure than US Mail results shown in real time Built-in edits to catch errors (e.g. Social Security typos) Confirmation of receipt of records Support Your Students with Follow-Up Report Access GPA Summary and School of Origin Reports HS graduation confirmation reports Financial Application, No GPA Report

43 13 Ways to Submit GPAs: Non-SSN GPA File Upload Allows upload of GPA data without the student s SSN. Districts and/or Individual schools GPA matched to FAFSA/DA application using data other than an SSN Can be submitted by batch individually or by batch File layout & User Guide available under Help in WebGrants (888) or schoolsupport@csac.ca.gov

44 14 Ways to Submit GPAs Student Initiated GPA Submission: Use paper GPA Verification form Download, print, complete demographic information Give to high school for GPA certification Student keeps a copy of the form Student mails GPA form and purchases proof of mailing Paper GPA Verification form is located online at:

45 How to retrieve GPA Reports 16

46 Student Summary Report Comprehensive Report Further Enhancements 18

47 High School Reports Non-SSN GPA Status Report (NEW) After a school uploads or enters Non-SSN GPAs in WebGrants, the report will list all Non-SSN GPA records received into the Grant Delivery System (GDS). This report will be updated daily and is available to high schools and colleges. Non-SSN GPA School Upload Report Summary of total records submitted using the Non-SSN upload process. Generated after each Non-SSN upload and is unique only to that specific upload. Available to high schools and colleges. Student Summary Report (NEW) Combines existing GPA Summary, Financial Application (No GPA) and School of Origin Reports. Comprehensive report listing all GPA records received using SSN and matched Non-SSN GPA processes. This report is dynamic and will update weekly as financial aid applications (FAFSA, Cal Dream Act) are loaded into GDS in January. Award statuses will appear on the report once the Cal Grant award cycles start in February. This report will produce weekly every Monday morning and is available only to high schools.

48 High School Reports GPA Summary Report A cumulative list of all GPA records received using the SSN and Non-SSN upload processes. Non-SSN GPA records are added once the GPA is matched to a FAFSA or Dream Act application. This report is updated daily and is available to high schools and colleges. Financial Application (No GPA) Report Displays a list of students who have submitted a FAFSA or Dream Act application but for whom the Commission has not received a GPA. This report will be generated beginning in January, updated daily, and available only to high schools. School of Origin Report Displays students who have recently been offered a Cal Grant award. A new report is generated weekly, once the Commission begins making the upcoming year award offers (usually beginning in February). This report is available to high schools only.

49 GPA-Best Practices Don t Wait! Establish a WebGrants account (GPAs can be uploaded starting in October) Read the WebGrants User Guides on the Help Screen. Use the Add GPAs screen for small batches of 100 or less GPA records Upload a GPA data file in.txt format for batches of 100 or more GPA records Use WebGrants reports to see the status of submitted GPA records 19

50 Middle Class Scholarship New scholarship program beginning AY Phase in over four years For use at UC or CSU campuses Similar requirements as Cal Grant but designed for families with incomes between $100,001 and $150,000 per year Use FAFSA or Dream Application to apply GPA may also be submitted but is not required to be considered Students must reapply each year Award notifications to start on September 15, 2014

51 Student Aid Commission Contacts GPA Submission Questions Institutional Support: CSAC Helpdesk: Tae Kang: Bryan Dickason:

52 Building a Culture of Financial Aid for All in Oakland East Bay College Access Network Arianna Morales August 14, 2014

53 East Bay College Access Network 53

54 The Landscape of Oakland Unified

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57 Sustaining Best Practices GPA Upload Financial Aid in the LCAP Collaborative approach to FAFSA completion Student & family engagement Four Phases of Financial Aid Toolkit

58 Questions? Arianna Morales East Bay CAN Program Manager Marcus Foster Education

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63 Track FAFSA & Cal Grants by High School financialaid.edtrustwest.org