College Financial Aid Applications In Kansas City Area: Compare To MO

Kansas City MO

23 April, 2021

4:34 PM

Description

KANSAS CITY, MO — Among the many disruptions caused by the pandemic is a decline in the number of students filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which is used to apply for college financial aid. FAFSA form completions are often seen as a harbinger of future enrollment. The decline of applications this year, especially among low-income students, has some experts worried. "This year is clawing back relative to last year, but it's still not a good FAFSA completion situation," said Bill DeBaun, director of data and evaluation for the National College Attainment Network. Nationally, the total number of FAFSA completions is down 6.7 percent through the week ending April 9 compared with the same date last year; there were 1.88 million applications last year compared with 1.75 million this year. There has been improvement in recent weeks and the situation is looking more optimsitic compared to the fall; in November 2020 there was a year-over-year percent drop of 16.8 percent in FAFSA completions. In Missouri, there were 25,638 FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021, compared with 29,013 completions at the same point last year, according to an Associated Press analysis of FAFSA data. That is an 11.6 percent drop. (See how Kansas City area high schools did at bottom of article.) At this point, it's hard to say whether the decline in FAFSA applications suggests a decline in college enrollment for the fall 2021 semester, DeBaun said. "If we don't help students complete the milestones now, there is no guarantee that they will hop on a postsecondary path in the fall," he said. Freshman enrollment dropped 13 percent nationally in fall 2020, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. The largest decrease occurred at community colleges. Total undergraduate enrollment was down 4.4 percent in the fall. Other changes are at hand in the college application process this year. Many top-tier schools made test scores optional and saw a massive surge in applications, according to The New York Times. At the same time many smaller schools and state colleges reported a drop in applicants. The decline in FAFSA applications is owing largely to the coronavirus pandemic, DeBaun said. The high school senior class of 2021 experienced disruption for part of its junior year and all of its senior year, including restricted access to high school-based help with completion of FAFSA forms. The FAFSA process isn't intuitive for many students and their families. Primary support often comes from school-based financial aid events.  Completion rates have declined even faster at Title 1 high schools, meaning those where low-income students make up at least 40 percent of enrollment. The completion rate dropped 9.4 percent this year at Title 1 schools as of April 9, compared with 4.6 percent for non-Title 1 schools, according to NCAN's FAFSA status tracker. In Missouri, there was an 18.8 percent drop among completed applications from Title 1 schools compared with a 6.3 percent drop for non-Title 1 school applications as of March 26. The widening gap is largely due to the disruption in support that schools give families in completing the FAFSA. Here is how schools in the Kansas City area are doing with FAFSA completion as of March 26. See more Kansas City area high schools here. Note: Percent changes can be affected by a relatively small difference in completions, especially for smaller schools. School: HOGAN PREPARATORY ACADEMY District: HOGAN PREPARATORY ACADEMY Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 10 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 31 Percent change: -67.74 Title 1 status: Title I schoolwide School: EAST HIGH SCHOOL District: KANSAS CITY 33 Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 49 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 109 Percent change: -55.05 Title 1 status: Title I schoolwide School: WINNETONKA HIGH District:NORTH KANSAS CITY 74 Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 81 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 149 Percent change: -45.64 Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: NORTHEAST HIGH District:KANSAS CITY 33 Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 30 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 51 Percent change: -41.18 Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: UNIVERSITY ACADEMY-UPPER District:UNIVERSITY ACADEMY Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 29 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 44 Percent change: -34.09 Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: RAYTOWN SR. HIGH District:RAYTOWN C-2 Municipality: RAYTOWN Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 97 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 142 Percent change: -31.69Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: GRANDVIEW SR. HIGH District:GRANDVIEW C-4 Municipality: GRANDVIEW Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 76 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 104 Percent change: -26.92 Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: ALLEN VILLAGE HIGH SCHOOL District:ALLEN VILLAGE Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 17 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 23 Percent change: -26.09Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: RUSKIN HIGH SCHOOL District:HICKMAN MILLS C-1 Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 65 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 85 Percent change: -23.53Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: SOUTHEAST HIGH SCHOOL District:KANSAS CITY 33 Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 36 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 44 Percent change: -18.18Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: NORTH KANSAS CITY HIGH District:NORTH KANSAS CITY 74 Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 147 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 173 Percent change: -15.03Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: PASEO ACAD. OF PERFORMING ARTS District:KANSAS CITY 33 Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 18 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 21 Percent change: -14.29Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: FRONTIER STEM HIGH SCHOOL District:FRONTIER SCHOOLS Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 36 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 41 Percent change: -12.2Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: RAYTOWN SOUTH SR. HIGH District:RAYTOWN C-2 Municipality: RAYTOWN Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 95 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 104 Percent change: -8.65Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: PLATTE COUNTY HIGH District:PLATTE CO. R-III Municipality: PLATTE CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 146 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 158 Percent change: -7.59Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: GUADALUPE CENTERS HIGH SCHOOL District:GUADALUPE CENTERS SCHOOLS Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 32 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 33 Percent change: -3.03Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: OAK PARK HIGH District:NORTH KANSAS CITY 74 Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 125 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 126 Percent change: -0.79Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: FRONTIER SCHL OF EXCELLENCE-U District:FRONTIER SCHOOLS Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 13 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 13 Percent change: 0Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: LINCOLN COLLEGE PREP. District:KANSAS CITY 33 Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 116 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 114 Percent change: +1.75Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: STALEY HIGH District:NORTH KANSAS CITY 74 Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 193 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 189 Percent change: +2.12Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: PARK HILL HIGH District:PARK HILL Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 239 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 232 Percent change: +3.02Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: CENTER SR. HIGH District:CENTER 58 Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 37 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 33 Percent change: +12.12Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: EWING MARION KAUFFMAN HIGH District:EWING MARION KAUFFMAN SCHOOL Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 55 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 37 Percent change: +48.65Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: DELASALLE CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL District:DELASALLE CHARTER SCHOOL Municipality: KANSAS CITY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: N/A Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 5 Percent change: N/ATitle 1 status:Title I schoolwide Any student who is even remotely considering attending college in the fall should fill out the FAFSA, DeBaun said. Some colleges have been more flexible with their aid deadlines. "If you have any aspiration for attending in the fall, it's still important to fill out the FAFSA," he said, "and it's not too late to do so." Editor's note: This list was automatically generated using FAFSA data analyzed by the Associated Press. Information isn't available for all schools. Schools with fewer than five completions are omitted from the data. Please report any errors or other feedback to [email protected].