She estimates that some students are “leaving upwards of $25,000 on the table when it comes to not filing their FAFSA and not getting a financial aid package from Eastern.”
‘Unfortunate’ for students
Because of the form’s delayed rollout, it’s possible that some high school seniors chose to submit their financial aid information to fewer schools. But overall FAFSA completions are also down.
Roughly 41% of Michigan high school seniors have completed the FAFSA through June 7, according to the National College Attainment Network. At about the same time last year, 48% of students had completed the FAFSA.
That means 7,348 fewer students have completed the application.
At Wayne State, for first-time college students, 59% of admitted students have filled out a FAFSA compared to 67% a year before, said Ericka Matthews-Jackson, senior director of Admissions.
FAFSA submissions are also down for continuing students. Amongst Wayne State students who were enrolled last year, 34% of them have filled out a FAFSA for the 2024-20254 school year, compared to 39% the previous year.
At Central Michigan University, the university previously had 6,136 FAFSAs on file for continuing college students and has 4,652 this year, according to vice president of student recruitment and retention Jennifer DeHaemers.
