The number of Minnesotans completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) this year dropped significantly, alarming advocates who are now urging the governor to provide more resources to help students determine their college costs.
“Without urgent intervention, we risk a catastrophic decline in college enrollment, with far-reaching implications for our state’s future workforce and economic prosperity,” the leaders of eight groups promoting college access wrote in a letter sent to Gov. Tim Walz on Monday.
The FAFSA is a form used to determine how much state, federal and private aid students can receive to help cover their college costs. The U.S. Department of Education attempted to streamline the form and update its formulas this year, but the rollout has been mired in delays and tech glitches. That means many families are still unsure how much they’d have to pay to attend next fall, and some colleges have pushed back their traditional May 1 decision deadlines.
More than 225,000 Minnesotans fill out the FAFSA in a typical year. Many officials closely watch the number of students filling out the form for the first time as a way to get early predictions of next year’s freshmen enrollment.
Both advocates and higher education leaders say the number of first-time applicants has dropped between 20% and 30% compared to this same time last year. It’s hard to be more specific in part because the U.S. Department of Education tracks that information based on the student’s current high school and obscures the data in locations where fewer than five students have completed the form. About 30,000 first-time Minnesota applicants had completed the form as of April 2023.
“I would say that this is an unprecedented situation,” said Isaiah Allen, senior director of external relations for College Possible Minnesota. “We’re really in a tough, tough spot that has long-term consequences.”
Allen noted that many colleges were just starting to rebound from enrollment declines that happened at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many campuses moved to virtual classes to limit the spread of the virus.
The letter to the governor was signed by leaders of College Possible Minnesota, Achieve Twin Cities, the National College Attainment Network, North Star Prosperity, COPAL MN, Minnesota Voice, LeadMN and the undergraduate student government at the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus. It asks the governor to use $500,000 of the state’s $3.7 billion surplus to boost efforts to help students complete the form and to “convene an emergency response meeting” with state education leaders and college leaders to talk about how they can collaborate.
