The Colorado FAFSA Completion Initiative · The Colorado FAFSA Completion Initiative ... Non-SSN...
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The Colorado FAFSA Completion Initiative Dr. Beth Bean Chief Research Officer Colorado Department of Higher Education August, 2014
Transcript of The Colorado FAFSA Completion Initiative · The Colorado FAFSA Completion Initiative ... Non-SSN...
The Colorado FAFSA Completion
Initiative Dr. Beth Bean
Chief Research Officer Colorado Department of Higher Education
August, 2014
Colorado Discussion Highlights
• Overview of Financial Aid Allocation in CO • FAFSA Completion Initiative • FAFSA Completion Partnerships • Lessons Learned
Landscape By 2020 74% of all jobs in Colorado (3 million
jobs) will require education beyond high school
College Completion Goal of 66% by 2020 Performance Funding Colorado Paradox In bottom three states for funding per FTE Top three states for degrees per $100K
Presenter
Presentation Notes
<Rebecca> It’s also important to acknowledge Colorado’s shared reality. We are a state that will have significant job demands that we cannot meet with our current rate of graduating students in Colorado and their options to pursue the pathway of their choice. We cannot rely on continuing to import our talent. By 2020, 74% of all jobs in Colorado will require education beyond high school 32% will require some college, associate’s or certificate 29% will require a bachelor’s degree 12% will require a master’s degree or better In order to even begin to support this type of growth, demand and opportunity for our students, they must be prepared.
Goals of new financial aid allocation method
• Align allocation with goals of Master plan • Target aid to the students least likely to
complete by narrowing to Pell Eligible • Include full and part-time students • Create incentives for institutions to promote
progress/completion • Predictability
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Financial Aid Redesign
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• Narrows allocations to Pell eligible students; • Rewards progress through the pipeline as credits are attained; • Creates institution incentive for timely completion; • Hold harmless in the first year to protect students in the pipeline.
Financial Aid: 2012-13 Sources and Amounts
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Average awards per student recipient: Average Pell Grant = $3,280 Average State Need-Based Grant = $1,130 Average State Work-Study Award =$2,284 Average Institutional Grant =$5,360
Aid by Type Total Dollars
Federal Pell Grant $ 361,500,944
Federal Loans $ 1,187,161,265
Federal Other $ 47,640,194
State Aid $ 106,699,533
Institutional Aid $ 489,887,451 Other Aid $ 82,354,401
Total $ 2,275,243,788
Presenter
Presentation Notes
This chart is a snapshot of total financial aid that was allocated in FY 2012-13. State based financial aid is only 5% of the total. Institutional financial aid continues to increase it proportional share which is up to 21% as compared to 20% in the prior year.
$46 M $46 M $52 M
$60 M $67 M
$74 M $74 M $74 M $75 M $74 M $79 M
$7 M $6 M $2 M
$2 M
$2 M
$2 M $ M $ M $ M $ M
$ M
$15 M $15 M $15 M
$15 M
$15 M
$17 M $17 M $17 M $17 M $16 M
$16 M
$8 M $9 M $10 M
$11 M
$12 M
$13 M $13 M $13 M $13 M $14 M
$16 M
$0
$20,000,000
$40,000,000
$60,000,000
$80,000,000
$100,000,000
$120,000,000
2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014
State Financial Aid Appropriation History FY2003-2004 to FY2013-2014
Need-Based Grants Merit-Based Grants Work-Based Aid Categorical Programs
WHY is FAFSA important?
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H&R BLOCK
90%
Presenter
Presentation Notes
<Rebecca> In order for our students to have the opportunity to hold a job in Colorado, they must have the option to pursue education beyond high school, whether a technical or vocational certificate, bachelor’s degree, military or have the skills necessary to earn a living wage in the workforce. Colorado ranks 3rd in terms of the proportion of jobs that will require a 4-year degree and is nearly last in job opportunities for students without training beyond high school.
• 90% of students who complete a FAFSA in senior year of high school enroll in college within 12 months – U.S. Dept of Education – University of Chicago
• 45% of students who DO NOT complete a FAFSA in senior
year enroll in college within 12 months – H&R Block
• #1 most accurate predictor if a student plans to enroll and
persist in college or postsecondary training – U.S. Dept of Education
National Data
FAFSA Completion for Colorado
0100,000200,000300,000400,000500,000600,000
2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
All Students
Source: IFAP Application Volume
2014-2015 FAFSA
• As of August 6, 2014 • 357,344 Filed Applications • Goal 550,000
ROI Goal: To Not Leave Money on the Table
• $40 million annually for a $500,000 annual investment
• 2012-13 – 49% Colorado FAFSA Completion Rate = 85% College Enrollment – 54% National FAFSA Completion Rate = 90% College Enrollment
– 10,200 High School Seniors missed out on $40 million in Pell
Grants • Eligible for Free & Reduced Lunch
– College Access Team helped Colorado students recoup $10
million in Pell for the 2012-13 academic year
FAFSA Project Purpose • Provide districts and schools with FAFSA completion information to
assist in guiding intentional, individualized conversations with student and their families.
– Leverage as primary indicator of enrollment in education beyond high
school – Increase the number of students who enter and complete a degree or
credential – Maximize resources by connecting school counselors, students, and
families through FAFSA – Provide state leadership for FAFSA completion to assist local-level
efforts
FAFSA Completion Project Goals
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Create simple tool for Colorado district and schools to identify students who needs assistance in accessing higher education Plug-and-play tool No need for additional software or technology Maximized time for current personnel Minimal training of users Accurately match students with schools/districts (4% error rate) Help FAFSA be fun and simple – remove the fear Emphasize importance of FAFSA as indicator to higher education Align FAFSA and higher ed matriculation data points Unique identifier (mountain goat) History of progress year-over-year
Presenter
Presentation Notes
<Rebecca>
Complex Data Simplified
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Data agreements for student-level info
Access levels with authentication
Attorney General “thumbs-up”
Copy of Agreement Push system to districts
Elegant, Efficient Simplicity
FAFSA Completion Portal
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Home Page
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Aggregate Data by High Schools
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Log-in Page
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District-level Student Data
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Student-level Data Report
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Student-level Report
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High School Feedback Reports
Example of a Non-District Partners
• Denver Scholarship Foundation • Required proof of FAFSA completion for
scholarship eligibility • Student challenges • Changed Scholarship Policies • Use state FAFSA data to confirm filed
applications in a timely manner
Next Steps…..
• Additional Data Agreements with partner districts
• Expansion of FAFSA outcome reporting • Increased Outreach Efforts
Questions?
Thank You!
FAFSA Completion Portal:
http://highered.colorado.gov/fafsa Dr. Beth Bean, Chief Research Officer, [email protected], 303-866-2661
Bryan Dickason / Tae Kang California Student Aid Commission
Back to School Success Training Using FAFSA Completion as a Measure of College Readiness
Agenda
• Cal Grant Basics • FAFSA Completion Initiative • Cal Grant Deadlines and Timelines • WebGrants • FAFSA and Cal Grant GPA Reports • GPA Best Practices
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Basic Cal Grant Eligibility • *U.S. citizen or permanent U.S.
resident • Meet Selective Service
requirements • *Have a Social Security number • Maintain Satisfactory Academic
Progress • Not owe a grant repayment or be
in default on a student loan • Not be incarcerated • Not have earned a BA/BS degree
• *California Resident • Attend an eligible California
school • Be enrolled at least half-
time • High School GPA required
(Entitlement)
* These requirements are supplanted by other eligibility criteria for AB 540 students 3
• Cal Grant A – 3.00 High School GPA – Low to Middle Income (see income chart)
• Cal Grant B – 2.00 High School GPA – Low Income (see income chart)
• Cal Grant C – Low to Middle Income (see income chart) – Occupational or technical – Score in top 7,761
Cal Grant Program Eligibility
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Cal Grant Award Amounts
2014-15 Cal Grant Award Amounts
CCC CSU UC Independent For Profit
$1,648* $ 5,472 $ 12,192 $ 9,084 $4,000
* Cal Grant B Access only
Cal Grant Income & Asset Ceilings
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High School Entitlement
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Cal Grant A and B
A complete Cal Grant application consists of: • A Financial Application – FAFSA or Dream Application • A school certified High School GPA
Recent high school graduates or equivalent (GED, CHSPE) • 2014/15 AY: graduated on or after July 1, 2012
Meet minimum GPA and income/need requirements
Potentially unlimited number of awards
Presenter
Presentation Notes
This slide highlights the value of receiving a Cal Grant award.
High School Entitlement Awards Award Year Count of award offers
2010-11 95,735
2011-12 112,870
2012-13 119,547
2013-14 131,432
2014-15 (upcoming year) 138,157 (30% increase over 5 years)
REASONS FOR GROWTH • 2011-12 – Non-SSN Pilot Project with LAUSD • 2013-14 – Dream Act Students • Increased FAFSA + GPA applications • Increased outreach efforts
CA Dream Application
2013-14 2014-15
On-time 20,701 26,989
Late 16,532 6,882
Total 37,233 33,871
Cal Grant offers* 6,236 6,441
* High school entitlement counts only
2015-16 Dream Application Enhancements underway for January 2015 implementation
FAFSA Completion Initiative
• Federal initiative to increase FAFSA completion by the sharing of submission data by high school and district
• Student Aid Commission participates – FAFSA completion data since 2011 – Comprehensive GPA and FAFSA/Dream Act reports – Available with WebGrants account
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Application Stats Cohort Graduation Rate - Public Schools*
Graduates Cohort Graduation Rate
2010-11 388,236 503,273 77.1%
2011-12 395,098 500,974 78.9%
2012-13 398,442 495,316 80.4%
• An additional 35,000 high school seniors graduate on average from private schools.
• In a given year, about 435,000 high school seniors graduate from CA high school.
* Numbers provided from CDE website
More data Total High Schools GPAs Received for 2014-15 Year – 436,094
– # Paper GPAs – 26,974 – # Electronic GPAs 157,413 – # Non-SSN GPAs: 251,707
A 2014-15 scenario by the numbers… 540,000 High School Seniors
435,000 Graduates 230,000 Completed (FAFSA + GPA) on-time
138,157 Cal Grant award offers
The History of All-Senior GPA Submission
• LAUSD piloted in 2011 – District submitted the GPA for every senior – GPA submissions increase from 19,000 to over
37,000. • Resulting in more than 2,000 additional Cal
Grant awards. • Now duplicated with similar results in San
Francisco, San Diego, Oakland, Kern, Elk Grove and 70 other school districts.
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Presenter
Presentation Notes
Sending GPAs for all seniors has led to many more students having a college opportunity
Timelines and Deadlines
• There are two Cal Grant deadlines – March 2, the most important one – Cal Grant for
use at any California college – September 2 – For Cal Grants, but may only be
used at a community college • For students not selected based on March 2 submission • For students who missed the March 2 deadline • Far fewer awards available
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Presentation Notes
Since the September 2 deadline is only for community college students, we must make sure to hit the March 2 deadline to have the largest effect.
WebGrants for Students webgrants4students.org
• Students can verify receipt of application components
• Students can notify CSAC of college of attendance
• Demographic changes, address, email • Confirm high school graduation • Cal Grant C • Transfer Entitlement eligibility confirmation
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Presentation Notes
Batch upload is a text document in the proper GPA record layout WebGrants has built-in edits to catch things like incorrect GPA’s (over 4.00 or less than three characters), incorrect SSN’s (SSN’s starting with an 8 or 9, for example) Confirmation of GPA submissions is helpful for us to track a file submission problem because of time/date stamp and helps during a late GPA appeal from school GPA Summary report is a cumulative report so it grows as more GPA’s are successfully submitted by the school School of Origin report is available starting in April and lists all students by name that were offered a Cal Grant Award from your school WebGrants is a secure website (encrypted) and student’s personal data (i.e. SSN) is not as easily accessible like a paper form could be
WebGrants for Schools https://webgrants.csac.ca.gov
• Upload GPA by batch or key individual GPA • More secure than US Mail – results shown in real time • Built-in edits to catch errors (e.g. Social Security typos) • Confirmation of receipt of records • Support Your Students with Follow-Up Report Access
– GPA Summary and School of Origin Reports – HS graduation confirmation reports – Financial Application, No GPA Report
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Presenter
Presentation Notes
Batch upload is a text document in the proper GPA record layout WebGrants has built-in edits to catch things like incorrect GPA’s (over 4.00 or less than three characters), incorrect SSN’s (SSN’s starting with an 8 or 9, for example) Confirmation of GPA submissions is helpful for us to track a file submission problem because of time/date stamp and helps during a late GPA appeal from school GPA Summary report is a cumulative report so it grows as more GPA’s are successfully submitted by the school School of Origin report is available starting in April and lists all students by name that were offered a Cal Grant Award from your school WebGrants is a secure website (encrypted) and student’s personal data (i.e. SSN) is not as easily accessible like a paper form could be
Ways to Submit GPAs: Non-SSN GPA File Upload
• Allows upload of GPA data without the student’s SSN. – Districts and/or Individual schools
• GPA matched to FAFSA/DA application using data other than an SSN
• Can be submitted by batch individually or by batch • File layout & User Guide available under “Help” in
WebGrants • (888) 294-0153 or [email protected]
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Ways to Submit GPAs • Student Initiated GPA Submission:
• Use paper GPA Verification form • Download, print, complete demographic information • Give to high school for GPA certification • Student keeps a copy of the form • Student mails GPA form and purchases proof of mailing • Paper GPA Verification form is located online at:
www.csac.ca.gov; www.calgrants.org; www.webgrants4Students.org
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How to retrieve GPA Reports
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Student Summary Report
Comprehensive Report Further Enhancements
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High School Reports • Non-SSN GPA Status Report (NEW) –– After a school uploads or enters
Non-SSN GPAs in WebGrants, the report will list all Non-SSN GPA records received into the Grant Delivery System (GDS). This report will be updated daily and is available to high schools and colleges.
• Non-SSN GPA School Upload Report – Summary of total records submitted using the Non-SSN upload process. Generated after each Non-SSN upload and is unique only to that specific upload. Available to high schools and colleges.
• Student Summary Report (NEW) – Combines existing GPA Summary, Financial Application (No GPA) and School of Origin Reports. Comprehensive report listing all GPA records received using SSN and matched Non-SSN GPA processes. This report is dynamic and will update weekly as financial aid applications (FAFSA, Cal Dream Act) are loaded into GDS in January. Award statuses will appear on the report once the Cal Grant award cycles start in February. This report will produce weekly every Monday morning and is available only to high schools.
• GPA Summary Report – A cumulative list of all GPA records received using the SSN and Non-SSN upload processes. Non-SSN GPA records are added once the GPA is matched to a FAFSA or Dream Act application. This report is updated daily and is available to high schools and colleges.
• Financial Application (No GPA) Report – Displays a list of students who have submitted a FAFSA or Dream Act application but for whom the Commission has not received a GPA. This report will be generated beginning in January, updated daily, and available only to high schools.
• School of Origin Report – Displays students who have recently been offered a Cal Grant award. A new report is generated weekly, once the Commission begins making the upcoming year award offers (usually beginning in February). This report is available to high schools only.
High School Reports
GPA-Best Practices • Don’t Wait! Establish a WebGrants account
– (GPAs can be uploaded starting in October) • Read the WebGrants User Guides on the Help Screen. • Use the “Add GPAs” screen for small batches of 100 or less GPA
records • Upload a GPA data file in .txt format for batches of 100 or more GPA
records • Use WebGrants reports to see the status of submitted GPA records
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Presenter
Presentation Notes
Remember, you can submit GPAs now! So, if you are submitting GPAs for your Seniors, you already have their grades needed to calculate their GPA by the previous June if they did not take any Summer courses (i.e. don’t wait until the last minute to calculate GPAs). Cannot electronically upload GPAs without access to WebGrants and you also cannot retrieve the reports that give information on the status of your student’s GPAs either. There are a lot of resource materials available in WebGrants to help you use all of the functions of WebGrants to their fullest potential. Some schools will use the Add GPA’s screen for large batches of GPAs too, and that’s OK. It is still an electronic submission of the GPAs so they will be processed much faster than using the paper GPA Verification Form. Once you have established the process for uploading GPAs via a text batch, it is much easier and quicker to do and is the fastest way to submit large numbers of GPA records. GPA Summary Report and the School of Origin Report. GPA Summary Report is cumulative so it grows as you submit more GPA records and you can keep track of how many GPAs were successfully submitted to CSAC so you can compare with the total number of students in your records.
Middle Class Scholarship New scholarship program beginning 2014-15 AY
Phase in over four years For use at UC or CSU campuses Similar requirements as Cal Grant but designed for families with
incomes between $100,001 and $150,000 per year Use FAFSA or Dream Application to apply
GPA may also be submitted but is not required to be considered Students must reapply each year Award notifications to start on September 15, 2014
Student Aid Commission Contacts • GPA Submission Questions
Institutional Support: [email protected] 888-294-0153
CSAC Helpdesk: [email protected]
888-294-0148
Tae Kang: [email protected]
916-464-2954
Bryan Dickason: [email protected]
916-464-8919
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Building a Culture of Financial Aid for All in Oakland
East Bay College Access Network Arianna Morales August 14, 2014
East Bay College Access Network
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The Landscape of Oakland Unified
Sustaining Best Practices
• GPA Upload • Financial Aid in the LCAP • Collaborative approach to FAFSA completion • Student & family engagement • Four Phases of Financial Aid Toolkit
Questions?
Arianna Morales East Bay CAN Program Manager Marcus Foster Education Fund [email protected] @eastbayCAN or @marcusfosteref www.facebook.com/EastBayCAN
www.collegegoldrush.org
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Presentation Notes
I’m excited to announce the recent launch of College Gold Rush, a new website that gives college access programs, high school counselors, and other college advisors the information, tools, and resources to help guide California students through the financial aid processes. The website provides very helpful information and guidance that will help you work with your students to help them secure state and federal grants and other types of financial aid so that they can afford to attend and complete college.
www.collegegoldrush.org
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Here’s the homepage of College Gold Rush for Advisors. This is where you’ll enter the site if you are a Counselor, Advisor, or Administrator. There is also another section of the site designed for students and parents.
www.collegegoldrush.org www.collegegoldrush.org
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This is one of the site’s most valuable features: a step-by-step timeline to completing the Cal Grants application process
www.collegegoldrush.org
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Presentation Notes
College Gold Rush also has a comprehensive resource library that you can search for helpful resources for yourself and for your student. You can filter search results by topic, file type, or audience.
Track FAFSA & Cal Grants by High School financialaid.edtrustwest.org
