The Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) and the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) determined that an effective strategy for addressing teacher shortages and filling hard-to-fill positions in remote geographic locations is to offer repayment of educational loans for those who fill these positions. The Loan Forgiveness Program…

This guide is intended for college financial aid administrators and counselors who help students begin the aid process--filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form, verifying information, and making corrections and other changes to the information reported on the FAFSA. The Federal Student Aid Handbook consists of the…

In the latest addition to the National College Attainment Network's (NCAN) state policy resource library, we present a new report about how to simplify state financial aid programs. While maximum award amounts tend to grab headlines, the fine print can make all the difference in whether students can access and retain state aid. Those most impacted…

This guide is intended for college financial aid administrators and counselors who help students begin the aid process--filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form, verifying information, and making corrections and other changes to the information reported on the FAFSA. The Federal Student Aid Handbook consists of the…

The "Student FAFSA Completion Report" (2024) is submitted pursuant to Education Article § 7-212, Annotated Code of Maryland, which requires the Maryland Longitudinal Data System (MLDS) Center to annually produce an annual report, on or before December 15th of each year, beginning in 2023 and ending in 2028, on the submission and…

For adults with low incomes and potential first-generation college-goers, enrolling in college can be challenging. The U.S. Department of Education-funded Educational Opportunity Centers (EOCs) provide supports to help navigate some of the barriers to enrollment, including assistance with completing college and financial aid application processes,…

In both the stacks of research compiled by education think tanks and in the conversations had around the dining room table by families of aspiring college students, one stumbling block to college enrollment predictably crops up--financial aid. The topics range from avoiding endless, crushing debt to options for part-time jobs. But often the focus…

Each year, CAI provides critical college and financial aid outreach support to more than 350 school districts, Tribal schools, colleges and universities, and nonprofit organizations across the state. In the 2023-24 academic year, only 12% of districts (35 out of 295) did not receive documented support or outreach from CAI. None of those 35…

For decades, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms were processed electronically by the legacy Central Processing System. In 2021 the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) initiated a system development effort and in December 2023 deployed a new system to process forms for the 2024-2025 school year. However, student aid…

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the entry ramp to federal grants and loans that many students depend on to afford college. Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in 2020 in part to make it easier to apply for federal aid. However, Education's rollout of the new FAFSA has suffered from numerous challenges and delays.…

This publication is intended for college financial aid administrators and counselors who help students begin the aid process--filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®), verifying information, and making corrections and other changes to the information reported on the FAFSA. In addition to the active index, the following topics…

The transition from high school to postsecondary education is one of the most important points in a student's educational journey. Yet, as students attempt to navigate the many steps involved in accessing postsecondary education, it is also a juncture where students are most at risk of falling off track. The responses to the COVID-19 pandemic --…

Parenting while attending college is challenging in the best of times, and the pandemic is making it even more difficult. Yet more than one in five college students, including disproportionately large numbers of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous individuals, tried to make it work. Emergency aid in the form of fast, flexible dollars delivered just in…

This publication is intended for financial aid administrators and counselors who help students begin the aid process--filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®), verifying information, and making corrections and other changes to the information reported on the FAFSA. The Federal Student Aid Handbook consists of the Application…

Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA; P.L. 89-329), as amended, authorizes programs that provide financial assistance to students to pursue postsecondary education at eligible institutions of higher education (IHEs). In academic year (AY) 2022-2023 (July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023), 5,918 domestic institutions had written agreements with the U.S.…