Pandemic fewer financial aid requests. Where does that leave students

Ariyana Blunt targeted Tennessee State University, a historically black public university in Nashville. The 2021 graduate of Withrow University High School says she dreamed of being the first of her siblings to graduate from high school on time, go to college, and get a well-paying job that she enjoys.

“To just start a different lifestyle for our family,” says Blunt, 18.

But in the chaos of COVID-19 and virtual learning, Blunt says, she struggled to reach her school advisor. She couldn’t ask anyone at home if she should apply for government grants because her mother and older sister dropped out of high school prematurely.

She missed the deadline. There were worries, says Blunt. She saw her dreams begin to fade.

“I really panicked knowing that because of my background, I couldn’t pay for college,” says Blunt. “And my biggest fear as a teenager is having college debt. I really tried to avoid it. ”

Blunt is not alone. With less than two weeks to go before the June 30 deadline, entries for free federal student grant applications (FAFSA) declined 3.6% nationwide this year, according to an analysis of federal data by the Associated Press Jan. 11. June decreased 5.8% in Ohio, 11.6% in Kentucky and 5.2% in Indiana.

At Withrow, filings were down 50% year-over-year, according to an enquirer analysis of FAFSA filings. In the 16-county Cincinnati region, applications fell 6.4% to approximately 10,900 students, the Enquirer analysis of the federal data shows. Submissions decreased in 72 of 114 schools in the AP database. To see application rates at other schools in the area, scroll down this story.

Completing the form is required not only for obtaining federal grants and loans, but often for government grants as well.

Despite the decline in requests for financial assistance, children are still applying for college – more than ever before. According to Common Application, a nonprofit membership organization that connects applicants with nearly 900 higher education institutions, more than 640,000 additional applications were submitted through Common App this year compared to last year. That is an increase of more than 11%.

Brent Shock, vice president of enrollment management and student success at Miami University, says these numbers point to inequality in the types of students entering higher education.

“The concern is that we – and by that I mean society, our community, our nation – have lost a very vulnerable group of students who may not get into the admission / college enrollment cycle,” says Shock.

Students in need of financial aid to attend school and children who need additional personal advice to help them achieve their college education dreams may have failed during the coronavirus pandemic, Shock says. He considers the perpetrator to be likely virtual and hybrid learning models.

Low student engagement resulted in fewer applications

Although many school districts were out of the way in the fall months – when both the Common App and FAFSA opened – the majority of local schools returned to face-to-face learning this spring when staff and students started receiving COVID-19 vaccinations.

Emma Steele, senior public relations manager at Common App, says first-generation applications were down slightly in early April from last year, but have “increased slowly” since then. The number of first-generation applicants was up 4.7% year-over-year, although 30% of total Common App entries that year were first-generation students, compared with 31% last year, according to Steele.

“For all we can tell, first-generation and fee-exempt students have been waiting for their applications (until) later in the season,” says Steele. Fee waivers are often given to students who complete the Common App and demonstrate financial need.

Ericka Copeland, president and CEO of the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative, says she, too, saw a decline in engagement earlier in the pandemic, which has since recovered. The organization offers many programs for teenagers in Cincinnati, including mentoring opportunities and courses that focus on college and career readiness.

“Not to mention the opportunities to do FAFSA or ACT prep, college research and so on – the students didn’t even show up for class,” Copeland says of Pandemic Days. “The academics come first.”

Some of the families Copeland works with have never had to file a FAFSA. She says the proposal is “monstrous”, even for her.

Casey Jaynes, director of learning support services for middle and high schools at Boone County Schools, can also testify to the “daunting” task of seeking federal aid. At Boone County High School, FAFSA applications were down 20% year over year.

“It’s a process,” he says. “I have a master’s degree and was a school principal for seven years and I could only have my three children’s FAFSAs filled out so they could go to school. So if you are new to the area or have a language barrier or something like that, I mean it is difficult. “

Jaynes says Boone County Schools struggled with high levels of disengagement during distance learning, which may have contributed to the decline in FAFSA. He also says that October students seemed pessimistic about college because many local universities were working virtually.

Many families at Boone County Schools also struggle with language barriers, says Jaynes. Others lost their jobs during the pandemic, and with the FAFSA collecting tax information for 2019 this year, there may have been fears that the application might not accurately reflect families’ needs.

“We don’t want (students) to lose $ 500”

Applying for FAFSA is important to every family, says Nancy Aniskovich, director of counseling at Turpin High School. Waiting too long to submit an application could affect the students’ chances of receiving substantial grants.

Aniskovich says she encourages students to apply as soon as possible once the FAFSA opens on October 1st each year.

“As the FAFSA applications are being finalized, the schools are starting to distribute that money. And it’s one thing that the money will eventually run out,” she says.

Turpin is one of the few schools in the Cincinnati area to buck the trend this application season. Grant applications increased by more than 21% compared to the previous year.

Neither Aniskovich nor Turpin’s principal Dave Spencer could say for sure what led to the school’s dramatic increase in FAFSA applications, but both spoke of the overall success of personal learning during COVID-19.

Aniskovich says the high school developed “best practices” to teach students and families the importance of FAFSA. She says Turpin consultants give separate presentations about the application process with parents and students, then bring it up in one-on-one meetings with students early in their senior year.

“It is needs-based help, but we tell them not to question it. If you think your mother or father may be making too much money and they are not eligible for allowance, do it anyway. Take half an hour and 45 minutes and just sit down and do it because there are no downsides, ”she says.

The parenting presentations are crucial, says Aniskovich, as the students cannot fill out the application on their own.

“Every college and university has to decide what is considered a need. Just because the government says we think this should be the expected family contribution doesn’t mean these colleges, especially small ones, are okay with it, ”says Aniskovich.

Look to the future

Blunt says many of her friends also missed the FAFSA deadline or other due dates for postgraduate opportunities while they were distance learning.

“It was just so stressful this year,” says Blunt, “because when we got back to school in January, everyone was struggling to get things done that should have been done in October.”

Her panic subsided a little when she found out about another possibility of help in her second class of the bell-making offers.

Ohio’s Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) programs don’t pay for college, but they do help with various training programs. Blunt applied to WIOA through the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative Graduate Jobs and was inducted into a 12-week information technology program at Kable Academy this summer. She will graduate with her certification in September this year and, she says, hopefully have job prospects in the cybersecurity field.

Blunt says she is excited about this new path, even though it is different from her original dream. She says she used to believe college was the only route to a well-paying job and a successful career. And she could still go to university one day.

For now, however, Blunt is still basking in the glitz of her late May graduation in the Fifth Third Arena. Her grandmother, sister, aunt and uncle were allowed to watch her walk across the stage. It’s “extremely emotional,” says Blunt.

“I have the feeling that if you don’t go through anything, you won’t learn anything. So I had to take all the challenges I went through in my high school career as lessons and use them for my future, ”says Blunt.

The Associated Press helped.

source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/pandemic-fewer-financial-aid-requests-where-does-that-leave-students/