Ninety percent of high school seniors who complete the FAFSA attend college immediately after high school, compared to just 55 percent of those who don’t. Several common misconceptions result in many students not completing the form, including a lack of awareness about how to complete the form and inadequate resources to assist students.

This hurts black and brown students the most – thirty-four percent of Hispanic students and 27 percent of Black students did not complete a FAFSA because they or their family did not have enough information about how to complete it, compared to 18 percent of White students.

Some states, including Louisiana, Texas and Illinois have required that students complete the FAFSA to receive their high school diploma, and early results show that this rule with adequate resources to ensure completion have boosted the FAFSA completion rate.

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