Over 9,000 more Indiana high school seniors completed the Free Application for Financial Aid (FAFSA) on time in 2015 compared to 2014, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (ICHE) announced today. This is an increase of 12 percentage points, from 66 percent of all public and private high school seniors in 2014 to 78 percent of all high school seniors in 2015.
“Gains of this magnitude deserve to be celebrated and recognized,” Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers said. “Indiana’s school counselors, college advisors and community partners—as well as students and their families—should be commended for their efforts to increase the number of Hoosiers who qualify for college financial aid.”
About $300 million in state financial aid for college is available this year for Indiana students who qualify. To be eligible to receive these funds, students are required to complete the FAFSA by Indiana’s March 10 filing deadline.
Beyond determining state and federal financial aid, colleges use information from the FAFSA to determine their scholarship awards. For that reason, ICHE encourages all high school seniors to complete the free application online at www.fafsa.gov, regardless of their financial aid eligibility.
For those who filed their FAFSA on time, the deadline for submitting any corrections or edits to the form is May 15, 2015. Students can check their FAFSA status via eStudent, a self-service website to help Indiana residents track and verify state financial aid awards.
For more helpful information on the FAFSA and other financial aid resources and tips, access Learn More Indiana’s Cash for College website at CashForCollegeIndiana.org. The site offers free tools and advice for K-12 students, current college students and returning adult students—including the Indiana College Costs Estimator.