Long Island Area Completion Rates For College Aid Applications

Long Island NY

23 April, 2021

4:22 PM

Description

LONG ISLAND, NY — 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 New York, there were 93,503 FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021, compared with 100,131 completions at the same point last year, according to an Associated Press analysis of FAFSA data. That is a 6.6 percent drop. (See how Long Island 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 New York, there was a 10.8 percent drop among completed applications from Title 1 schools compared with a 2.8 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 Long Island area are doing with FAFSA completion as of March 26. See more Long Island area high schools here. Note: Percent changes can be affected by a relatively small difference in completions, especially for smaller schools. School: WYANDANCH MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL District: WYANDANCH UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: WYANDANCH Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 12 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 38 Percent change: -68.42 Title 1 status: Title I schoolwide School: ROSLYN HIGH SCHOOL District: ROSLYN UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: ROSLYN HEIGHTS Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 114 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 149 Percent change: -23.49 Title 1 status: Not Title I schoolwide School: CENTER MORICHES HIGH SCHOOL District:CENTER MORICHES UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: CENTER MORICHES Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 55 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 71 Percent change: -22.54 Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: ISLIP HIGH SCHOOL District:ISLIP UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: ISLIP Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 116 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 147 Percent change: -21.09 Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: WESTBURY HIGH SCHOOL District:WESTBURY UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: OLD WESTBURY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 89 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 112 Percent change: -20.54 Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: MANHASSET SECONDARY SCHOOL District:MANHASSET UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: MANHASSET Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 126 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 157 Percent change: -19.75Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: KINGS PARK HIGH SCHOOL District:KINGS PARK CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: KINGS PARK Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 144 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 178 Percent change: -19.1 Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: EAST HAMPTON HIGH SCHOOL District:EAST HAMPTON UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: EAST HAMPTON Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 102 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 126 Percent change: -19.05Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: CARLE PLACE MIDDLE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL District:CARLE PLACE UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: CARLE PLACE Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 61 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 75 Percent change: -18.67Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: W TRESPER CLARKE HIGH SCHOOL District:EAST MEADOW UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: WESTBURY Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 114 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 139 Percent change: -17.99Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: GREENPORT HIGH SCHOOL District:GREENPORT UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: GREENPORT Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 19 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 23 Percent change: -17.39Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: FREEPORT HIGH SCHOOL District:FREEPORT UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: FREEPORT Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 166 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 199 Percent change: -16.58Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: LIFE SCIENCES SECONDARY SCHOOL District:NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 2 Municipality: NEW YORK Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 47 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 56 Percent change: -16.07Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: WILLIAM FLOYD HIGH SCHOOL District:WILLIAM FLOYD UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: MASTIC BEACH Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 203 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 238 Percent change: -14.71Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: VILLAGE SCHOOL District:GREAT NECK UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: GREAT NECK Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 6 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 7 Percent change: -14.29Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: HUNTINGTON HIGH SCHOOL District:HUNTINGTON UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: HUNTINGTON Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 169 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 191 Percent change: -11.52Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: SEAFORD SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL District:SEAFORD UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: SEAFORD Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 118 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 133 Percent change: -11.28Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: WANTAGH SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL District:WANTAGH UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: WANTAGH Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 158 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 177 Percent change: -10.73Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: PLAINEDGE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL District:PLAINEDGE UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: MASSAPEQUA Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 139 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 154 Percent change: -9.74Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: PAUL D SCHREIBER SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL District:PORT WASHINGTON UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: PORT WASHINGTON Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 204 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 226 Percent change: -9.73Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: EAST MEADOW HIGH SCHOOL District:EAST MEADOW UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: EAST MEADOW Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 218 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 241 Percent change: -9.54Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: NORTHPORT SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL District:NORTHPORT-EAST NORTHPORT UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: NORTHPORT Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 284 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 313 Percent change: -9.27Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: RIVERHEAD SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL District:RIVERHEAD CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: RIVERHEAD Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 159 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 175 Percent change: -9.14Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide School: MILLER PLACE HIGH SCHOOL District:MILLER PLACE UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: MILLER PLACE Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 127 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 138 Percent change: -7.97Title 1 status:Not Title I schoolwide School: WALT WHITMAN HIGH SCHOOL District:SOUTH HUNTINGTON UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Municipality: HUNTINGTON STATION Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2021: 235 Total FAFSA completions as of March 26, 2020: 255 Percent change: -7.84Title 1 status:Title I schoolwide Click here to see the numbers for more Long Island area high schools. 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].