The U.S. Education Department (ED) reports that it has received 5 million federal student aid applications as of this Wednesday, up from the roughly 2 million submitted at the same time last year.
The Trump administration compared the growth to the troubled rollout of the revised Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) during the Biden administration. While the new FAFSA cycle opened earlier than its required October 1 date, the administration highlighted that the Biden administration had delayed previous cycles by months due to glitches, prompting stress on students and college student aid offices.
“Our extraordinarily talented FAFSA team has redesigned and streamlined the form, all while launching the earliest form in history – a huge win for students and families,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a release.
According to the National College Attainment Network (NCAN), as of December 5, 29% of U.S. high school seniors — roughly 1.2 million — had completed the FAFSA. That’s an 8.2% increase compared to about the same date of the class of 2023 FAFSA cycle. (That class is the most recent October 1 FAFSA opening, NCAN noted. It expects to compare to the class of 2025 soon.)
Illinois (42.2%), New Jersey (37.9%), Tennessee (37.7%), Massachusetts (36.5%) and Hawaii (36.1%) currently have the highest percent of FAFSA completions by seniors, according to NCAN’s FAFSA Tracker. Alaska (12.3%), North Dakota (17.5%), Utah (18.3%), Wyoming (21%) and Idaho (21.3%) have the lowest.
