TN tops US in financial-aid forms, but many high schools lag behind
Students and parents received help during the 901 FAFSA workshop put on by Memphis Shelby County Schools and Tennessee College of Applied Technology April 16, 2024. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian file)
More high schoolers in Frayser completed their federal applications for financial aid this year, data shows, even as completion rates across the country declined.
Tennessee has the highest completion rate of any state for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA, this year. But even Tennessee’s completion rate is down 11 percentage points compared to last year, according to the National College Attainment Network.
Completion rates plummeted across the country after the delayed rollout of the form, which promised a simpler application process but instead delivered more complications.
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Laura Testino
Laura Testino is an enterprise reporter on The Daily Memphian’s metro team who writes most often about how education policies shape the lives of children and families. She regularly contributes to coverage of breaking news events and actions of the Tennessee General Assembly. Testino’s journalism career in Memphis began six years ago at The Commercial Appeal, where she began chronicling learning disruptions associated with the pandemic, and continued with Chalkbeat, where she dug into education administration in Memphis. Her reporting has appeared in The New York Times, The Times-Picayune, The Tuscaloosa News and USA Today.
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