Federal Student Aid Applications Down by 20% in This State

This year, the rate has dropped by approximately 20% compared to the same time in 2023, one of the largest decreases nationwide.

David Sun-Miyashiro, executive director of HawaiiKidsCAN, noted that Hawaii’s reduced completion rate is part of a broader national issue, exacerbated by numerous problems with the FAFSA rollout this year.

Typically, the application period opens on October 1 for aid for the following school year, but this year it was delayed until the end of December. Once open, technical issues plagued the system, causing delays for users and colleges processing the applications.

The University of Hawaii (UH) system has begun sending financial aid packages to students at its four-year campuses in Manoa, Hilo, and West Oahu, while community colleges are still adjusting to the application changes.

“We are hopeful that this is an individual and isolated year. We hope that students and their families are not discouraged by these experiences,” Gomes said. “We don’t want any students to give up because of this situation that was so out of our individual control. We are all working together to just make sure that if students want to go to college, we are here to help them find their way through it.”

“In general, we found students in Hawaii, and elsewhere, are more price-conscious about college, and so they just assume. They hear, ‘Oh, people go into debt. (College) is a bad investment,’ and they’re more likely to unsubscribe from the whole experience,” Sun-Miyashiro said. “We wanted to push the FAFSA for folks, rather than assuming that college is out of reach in terms of costs, until you actually have your financial aid package, you don’t know for sure.”

“If (students) qualify, there are federal financial aid options that students can be eligible for that are only possible through completion of the FAFSA,” Gomes said. “(UH) also uses information from the FAFSA to award some of our institutional aid.”

Funded by the state Legislature, it acts as a last-dollar scholarship, providing funds after other FAFSA-based aid is awarded.

“There’s a lot of research that shows that obtaining a college degree does have multiple benefits, including a significant increase in lifetime earnings, as well as other non-education-related benefits, like less involvement in crime, and healthier and longer lives,” Gomes said. “We are seeing the contributions that individuals can make to society, so having a society of educated citizens contributing to the workforce and building the future in a way that is responsive to those in those communities adds to quality of life.”

“This generation is more cost-conscious about college, so we’re not shying away from that,” Sun-Miyashiro said. “I think the real message is we want students to be smart and aware consumers of what their options are.”

“We were already doing outreach via social media and trying to reach students where they were,” Sun-Miyashiro said. “We’ve got all this great energy and volunteering when it comes to political campaigns and people standing out on the street. Where’s that same energy when we’ve got a challenge like this, right? Let’s try taking some of those tactics and use it to raise awareness about the FAFSA.”

“If I could wave a magic wand, every student would automatically have a FAFSA completed,” Sun-Miyashiro said, “but it takes action.” The FAFSA for the 2024-25 school year is due by June 30 and can be completed online.