Nearly half of all students enrolled in accredited colleges and universities nationwide do not apply for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the American Council on Education reported last week.
According to the report, nearly 1.7 million low- and moderate-income students eligible for aid neglected to fill out the FAFSA during the survey's 1999-2000 window.
Overall, 32.5 percent of full-time undergraduate students did not fill out a FAFSA. While higher-income and part-time students were least likely to fill out the form, 13.7 percent of dependent students with an annual income less than $20,000 also did not submit the application.
The report also stated that approximately 850,000 students who did not complete the FAFSA would have qualified for at least a Pell Grant, an award administered to needy students by the federal government.
"We certainly think there are students out there that may be eligible for financial aid who are not taking advantage of it because they are not filling out the FAFSA," said Jacqueline E. King, author of the report and director of the ACE's Center for Policy Analysis. "While the majority of low- and middle-income students do fill out the FAFSA, there is a significant minority of those who do not."
She added that the report addressed the issue of students receiving financial aid from sources not requiring a FAFSA, but that number did not account for a substantial amount.
Melvin Miller, associate director of Student Financial Services, said many University students do not apply for financial aid because they prematurely assume they are ineligible to receive it.
"A lot of students that I speak with in presentations say they don't think they will be eligible -- but they don't fill out the form -- so they don't know," Miller said. "The trick is to educate the students so they know there is a possibility for eligibility. They might have a greater eligibility for aid than they assume."
King added that some students simply do not know of available financial aid or may be disinterested with the application process.
"Some students think the money is only available if you have a perfect SAT score or are a top athlete," King said.
Miller added that 25 percent of University students apply for and receive some sort of financial aid. He emphasized the importance of filing the FAFSA early.
"We don't have a deadline date, we have priority filing date," Miller said. "We attempt to get students' information in so we can process in a timely matter -- in time to register and enroll without any hesitation."
Miller added that students should speak with financial aid administrators to learn what options are available to them.
King said the responsibility of educating students about financial aid falls on many actors, including universities, federal and state governments, high schools and community organizations.
"These statistics tell us that we all need to do a better job to make sure that people know there are resources available," she said.
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