Every year, more than $2 billion worth of free money for college goes unused. This may be why.
Three in ten Americans have a hard time filling out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, according to Debt.com’s latest survey. The biggest reason seems most don’t know all the required financial information they’ll need to file. Our findings are similar to other survey results questioning why more eligible students are leaving financial aid on the table.
Back in 2018, the federal government wanted to find out why lower-income students neglect to fill out a FAFSA. Of students who don’t file, 3 out of 10 said “I thought I wouldn’t qualify” and “it’ll cause me to take on more debt.”
Here’s why all the above statistics are alarming: More than 44 million Americans owe an average $37,000 student loan tab. Below are the most interesting results from asking “Is it hard to apply for FAFSA?”
3 in 10 respondents said they’ve had trouble filling out FAFSA
The majority of survey respondents said they “didn’t know the required financial information” to file FAFSA
3 out of 5 FAFSA applicants said they qualified for financial aid
Methodology: Debt.com surveyed 1,156 people and asked six questions about their experiences applying for a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). People responded from all 50 states and Washington, DC and were aged 18 and above. Responses were collected through SurveyMonkey. The survey was conducted from April 19, 2021, to June 16, 2021.