These States Require High School Seniors to Complete the FAFSA
Credit: The Washington Post / Contributor / The Washington Post / Getty Images- Over a dozen states currently require high school seniors to file a FAFSA.
- Advocates for the policy hope it will lead to increased enrollment in college.
- A few states have repealed their universal FAFSA policies in recent years.
- Still, new states are continually being added to the list, including Nebraska in 2024.
Want more high schoolers to enroll in college? For a growing number of states, the answer is to require them to file a FAFSA during their senior year.
Thirteen states currently have so-called universal FAFSA policies, which aim to encourage more students to go straight from high school to college.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the primary method by which the federal government, states, and institutions award financial aid.
Filing a FAFSA form often leads students to enroll in college. Among students from the high school graduating class of 2013, for example, those who filed a FAFSA were 84% more likely to enroll in college the following fall semester, according to the National College Attainment Network (NCAN).
Which States Have a FAFSA Requirement
These states have universal FAFSA policies, as of December 2024:
- Alabama
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas*
- Maryland
- Nebraska
- New Jersey
- New York
- Oklahoma
- Texas
* The Kansas State Board of Education is in the process of repealing this mandate.
Louisiana was the first state to create a FAFSA mandate, but it later repealed that mandate in March 2024. Members of the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education said at the time that the mandate was burdensome and pushed students toward enrolling in college when other options may be better for them.
New Hampshire also repealed its universal FAFSA requirement, and Kansas is in the process of doing the same.
These repeals come after many years of states being added to the list, rather than taken off. Universal FAFSA policies tend to lead to higher college enrollment rates among graduating high school seniors, according to data compiled by NCAN, although concrete evidence remains lacking.
Texas increased its FAFSA completion rate among high school seniors by nearly 26% the first year after it adopted a universal FAFSA policy.
Nebraska was the latest state to join this trend. An amended state law requires public school students in the state to file a FAFSA beginning with the class of 2025 seniors.
Alternatives to Completing a FAFSA
So-called universal FAFSA policies aren’t as strict as they may initially seem. While most state laws “require” students to file a FAFSA, they also offer a waiver option.
Students under 18 can have a parent or guardian sign a waiver dismissing the FAFSA requirement. High school students 18 or older — sometimes 19, depending on the state — can opt out on their own. Emancipated students may also approve their own waiver.
Consequences aren’t typically strict if a student does not complete the FAFSA.
In Connecticut, for example, school guidance counselors must make “a good faith effort to contact the parent, legal guardian, or student about completion of the” FAFSA. Counselors can apply for a waiver if they do make an effort but aren’t able to make contact with the student or family.
Many states also offer alternative forms to the FAFSA that students can file. This is helpful for noncitizen students, who are ineligible for federal financial aid.