Many Louisiana students are missing out on college financial aid due to incomplete Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Director Ebony Holmes explains, “They totally revamped the FAFSA to make it easier. Unfortunately, that revamping came with a lot of technical issues.”
As Sean Richardson with the Louisiana Radio Network reports, state strategies to reverse the decline Include FAFSA completion events, digital media campaigns and 1-ON-1 troubleshooting sessions. Programs like “FAFSA Frenzy” and “FAFSA Fridays” aim to simplify the process and address errors. As Holmes adds, “We work a lot with our high schools where the counselors have us come out and so we’re doing FAFSA completion events there. This week we have over 15 events across the state.”
Louisiana maintains a higher-than-average FAFSA completion rate of 62.9%, which is required to graduate until 2025. “Our completion rate for 2024 was above the national average. For the past few years, we typically do complete above the national average.”
