The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is an important tool to help students find financial assistance. Not only do students fill out the FAFSA to apply for federal aid for postsecondary education, but also to be considered for aid by states, institutions, and private funders.¹ This report uses data from the 2013 Update of the NCES High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), a nationally representative study of a cohort of students who were ninth-graders in fall 2009. HSLS:09 focuses on understanding students’ trajectories from the beginning of high school into higher education and the workforce. This brief explores the reasons students may not fill out a FAFSA and the reasons that students think they may be ineligible to fill out the FAFSA.

Figure 4. Percentage of fall 2009 ninth-graders without a completed Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), by reasons for not completing a FAFSA: 2013

NOTE: This figure is based on the 24 percent of respondents who answered “no” to the question: “Did [you/your teenager] or another family member complete a FAFSA, that is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, for [your/his/her] education?” Respondents who were pursuing a high school diploma or GED (and not taking postsecondary classes) as of November 1, 2013, are excluded. Respondents could select one or more reasons.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) Base-Year to 2013 Update Public-Use File (NCES 2015-315).

Among fall 2009 ninth-graders who graduated from high school, approximately 65 percent of students or their parents reported completing a FAFSA, 24 percent did not, 3 percent did not know what a FAFSA was, and 8 percent did not know if they or their parents completed a FAFSA.

Among fall 2009 ninth-graders who graduated from high school and reported, or their parents reported, not completing a FAFSA,

• 33 percent thought they or their family could afford school or college without financial aid;
• 32 percent thought they or their family may be ineligible or may not qualify for financial aid;²
• 28 percent did not want to take on debt;
• 23 percent did not have enough information about how to complete a FAFSA;
• 22 percent did not plan to continue education after high school;
• 15 percent did not know they could complete a FAFSA; and
• 9 percent thought the FAFSA forms were too much work or too time-consuming.³

To view the full Statistics in Brief, please visit: http://nces.ed.gov/ pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2018061.

For more information about student aid, please visit: https://studentaid.ed.gov/ sa/types

¹ For more information about the FAFSA, please see https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa
² There is no income cut-off to qualify for federal student aid.
³ Respondents could select one or more reasons for not completing a FAFSA.

This publication was prepared for NCES under Contract No. ED-IES-12-D-0002 with American Institutes for Research. Mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.