A Sign Of The Times: FAFSA Filings Rise 17.5% In First Quarter 2010

Filings of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), a necessary first step in accessing financial aid, rose 17.5% to 8.1 million filings in the first quarter of 2010, based on an SLA analysis of Dept. of Education information. 

Here is the trends for the first quarter over the last four years, breaking out filings by dependent and independent students:

Academic Year	Dependent	Independent	TOTAL
2006-07	2,978,494	2,159,225	5,137,719
2007-08	3,037,287	2,111,273	5,148,560
2008-09	3,201,306	2,248,468	5,449,774
2009-10	3,871,234	2,999,967	6,871,201
2010-11	4,339,920	3,730,930	8,070,850
Growth based on year earlier period
2007-08	2.0%	-2.2%	0.2%
2008-09	5.4%	6.5%	5.9%
2009-10	20.9%	33.4%	26.1%
2010-11	12.1%	24.4%	17.5

Here are just a few drivers of this growth in FAFSA filings (please feel free to add your own explanations for this growth in filings too):

• Increased enrollment of mid-career professionals seeking to gain new skills may explain faster growth in filings by independent students
• Increased need for financial aid driven by weak economy and high unemployment rates
• Growing awareness of importance of filing the FAFSA early to ensure eligibility for as many sources of financial aid as possible
• FAFSA simplification may also be playing a role in increased filings

Among the fifty states (and DC), Utah, Nevada and Arizona all saw the sharpest increases in filings while Pennsylvania, North Dakota and Vermont had the smallest increases: 

State Dependent Students Independent Students Quarterly Total Year-Over-Year Change Utah                           13,611 30,849 44,460 30.9% Nevada                         18,736 23,581 42,317 30.0% Arizona                        52,720 66,042 118,762 29.9% Arkansas                       23,913 29,893 53,806 29.2% Idaho                          20,631 24,624 45,255 27.3% Illinois                       206,836 161,418 368,254 27.0% Florida                        182,155 230,223 412,378 25.3% Kentucky                       61,286 76,254 137,540 24.8% Oregon                         54,863 75,555 130,418 24.0% Georgia                        98,628 127,552 226,180 23.4% Washington                     84,282 98,540 182,822 23.1% Texas                          245,830 252,449 498,279 22.0% New Mexico                     17,810 21,446 39,256 21.6% Oklahoma                       27,845 36,924 64,769 21.2% Tennessee                      98,597 94,242 192,839 21.2% Colorado                       56,923 58,694 115,617 20.6% Louisiana                      30,341 35,450 65,791 20.4% Mississippi                    25,995 32,924 58,919 20.2% Alabama                        39,156 46,062 85,218 19.7% California                     630,926 521,236 1,152,162 19.5% Missouri                       89,816 81,175 170,991 18.7% Wyoming                        4,372 5,228 9,600 17.9% Hawaii                         16,220 13,405 29,625 16.9% South Carolina                 47,423 52,656 100,079 16.5% Wisconsin                      80,895 58,678 139,573 16.2% Ohio                           183,579 168,615 352,194 16.0% Alaska                         6,399 7,394 13,793 15.8% Indiana                        146,308 160,620 306,928 15.3% Montana                        13,419 12,670 26,089 15.0% Virginia                       101,634 82,288 183,922 14.4% Nebraska                       26,710 19,767 46,477 14.3% North Carolina                 114,530 123,250 237,780 14.3% Kansas                         38,591 31,763 70,354 13.2% Maryland                       99,207 76,529 175,736 13.0% Minnesota                      72,307 45,509 117,816 13.0% Connecticut                    69,007 32,893 101,900 13.0% Michigan                       186,390 165,024 351,414 12.9% Delaware                       10,445 6,981 17,426 12.5% Maine                          26,612 17,189 43,801 12.1% Rhode Island                   23,531 14,130 37,661 11.6% New Jersey                     139,979 63,408 203,387 10.8% New York                       284,453 155,873 440,326 10.2% New Hampshire                  28,050 12,197 40,247 10.0% District of Columbia           5,942 7,630 13,572 9.9% Massachusetts                  123,985 59,977 183,962 9.8% South Dakota                   10,910 7,964 18,874 9.3% Iowa                           49,612 31,776 81,388 9.3% West Virginia                  30,745 25,229 55,974 7.5% Pennsylvania                   202,869 116,081 318,950 6.8% North Dakota                   9,881 6,679 16,560 6.5% Vermont                        12,848 5,684 18,532 4.6%