Washington County School District is recognized as a Florida FAFSA Champion this year!
Washington County School District is officially a Florida FAFSA Champion for the 2019 – 2020 school year! This means that our district boosted its student completion rate of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by at least 5% by April 24th of this year compared to March 29th of the 2018 – 2019 school year.
The Florida FAFSA Challenge is a statewide campaign to increase the proportion of Florida high school seniors who complete the FAFSA, which helps students qualify for financial aid like Pell grants, to pay for college expenses. Many Florida students who could qualify for financial aid do not receive it because they do not complete the FAFSA. For instance, in the 2018 – 2019 school year, Florida ranked 3rd in the nation for the proportion of students who qualified for a Pell grant, but only 30th for the proportion of students who completed the FAFSA. FCAN’s goal is to recognize communities and schools who help more students complete the FAFSA and get access to necessary financial aid.
The Florida FAFSA Challenge is part of a suite of statewide initiatives coordinated by the Florida College Access Network to help Florida students traditionally underrepresented in higher education continue their educations after high school. Other initiatives include Apply Yourself Florida, which helps every graduating senior to complete at least one postsecondary school application; Florida College Decision Day, a celebration of high school seniors' postsecondary plans; and Plan It Florida, which ensures every student graduates high school with a plan for life after high school.
FCAN supports these initiatives at no charge to participating schools through trainings, toolkits, guides, technical assistance, data, and marketing collateral. To learn about and participate in other College Ready Florida initiatives, please contact LaVerne Handfield, Programs Coordinator, at lhandfield@
#FCAN and #FAFSAFL.