What does FAFSA Completion Rate mean?

The FAFSA completion rate is the estimated percentage of North Carolina high school seniors completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

What does this data show?

North Carolina’s FAFSA completion rate for 2025 is 61%.

By 2030, the goal is that 80% of North Carolina high school seniors will complete the FAFSA. This goal was set by the myFutureNC Commission.

Why does FAFSA Completion Rate matter?

Completing the FAFSA is strongly and positively associated with postsecondary enrollment. An analysis of data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that 91% of high school seniors who completed a FAFSA in 2012-13 had enrolled in college by November 2013, but only 51% of students who did not file a FAFSA had attended college by November 2013.

FAFSA completion is necessary for students to receive federal student aid, including loans and grants; it is also used by many states and colleges to determine student eligibility for state and school aid. Many students who are eligible for financial aid don’t ever fill out their FAFSA form. High school seniors in the most economically distressed districts are less likely to complete the FAFSA than students from wealthier districts.

In North Carolina, students from lower-income districts were less likely to complete the FAFSA than students from higher-income districts, according to an analysis by the National College Attainment Network. In 2019, 54% of students from school districts at the 25th percentile of district poverty completed the FAFSA compared to 48% of students from school districts at the 75th percentile of poverty. 

This leaves money on the table—lots of it. A 2014 research paper analyzing national data about financial aid non-applicants estimated that college students who didn’t complete the form were missing out on $24 billion in Pell Grants, subsidized student loans, work-study, and state aid programs. According to the National College Attainment Network, the high school class of 2023 left over $4 billion dollars on the table from Pell Grants alone.

How is North Carolina performing?

In 2025, the North Carolina FAFSA completion rate was 61%, 19 percentage points below the state goal of 80%.

North Carolina Trend

The FAFSA completion rate in North Carolina increased by 6 percentage points between 2024 and 2025. Any conclusions drawn from comparing 2018-2022 and 2023-2025 are discouraged because of changes in data and methodology, see below.

Methodology

Where does the data for the FAFSA completion rate come from?

The FAFSA completions rates data was obtained from the College for North Carolina’s FAFSA Tracker which uses FAFSA completion data from the Federal Student Aid, an office at the Department of Education, and student data from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Statistical Profile. The number of students is pulled from month two of the Principal’s Monthly Report (PMR). The completion rates on the state dashboard might differ from the rates on the FAFSA Tracker dashboard because the data that is downloaded account for schools that are added or removed due to administrative or reporting reasons during the FAFSA cycle whereas the FAFSA Tracker dashboard is a snapshot and does not account for any added or removed schools during the FAFSA cycle.

Prior to 2023, the FAFSA completion rate was calculated by dividing the number of completed applications (the numerator, from the Federal Student Aid website) by the estimated high school senior cohort (the denominator, from WICHE’s Knocking at the College Door report). This historical methodology included data from both public and private schools in both values. In contrast, the current CFNC FAFSA Tracker uses a more precise denominator based on high school enrollment data from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI). While the CFNC Tracker provides completion counts for private schools, its calculated completion rates are restricted to public and charter schools because private school enrollment data is not available for the denominator. Due to these distinct data sources and methodologies, comparing data from 2018–2022 with the 2023–2025 period is discouraged.

How was the data calculated?

The data was calculated using the following equation:

Who is included?

FAFSA completion data represents the share of all high school seniors attending public schools who filed a FAFSA for the following academic year by the summer after high school graduation.

Federal Student Aid defines high school seniors as “first-time filing applicants no older than 19 at the cutoff date who will have received their high school diploma by the start of the school year to which they are applying for aid.” For more information about who is counted visit here.

Who isn’t included?

Overall, FAFSA completion rates are underestimated and may impact certain areas or schools more than others. High schools with fewer than five FAFSA completers are not reported by Federal Student Aid.

The FAFSA application does not ask whether the applicant is a high school senior and Federal Student Aid estimates a student’s status based on a series of assumptions. Federal Student Aid notes that the following students are not included in the high school data:

• students who report (incorrectly or otherwise) that they will receive anything other than a high school diploma.
• students who have filed a FAFSA in a previous cycle, regardless of whether they attended college.
• students who report that they will be anything but an incoming first-year undergraduate.

This is not a comprehensive list. You can find a more complete list of data details and assumptions on FAFSA Tracker website or the FAFSA completion website.

Learn more

Who is working on this in NC?

Name: Carolina College Advising Corps

Scope: Statewide

Website: https://carolinacollegeadvisingcorps.unc.edu/

About:

Carolina College Advising Corps focuses on guiding high school students across North Carolina as the prepare for their life after high school, whether for college enrollment, career, or military service.

Name: College for North Carolina (CFNC)

Scope: Statewide

Website: https://www.cfnc.org/pay-for-college/fafsa-101/

About: A free service of the State of North Carolina that helps students plan, apply, and pay for college. In conjunction with the North Carolina Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, CFNC offers free programs to help students complete and submit the FAFSA form.

Name: Crosby Scholars

Scope: County-level

Website: https://www.crosbyscholars.org

About: The Crosby Scholars Community Partnership, helps students in public middle and high schools in Forsyth, Rowan, and Iredell Counties prepare academically, personally, and financially for college admission and other postsecondary opportunities best suited to a student’s needs, aptitudes and dreams. With a 26-year history of providing academic training, financial aid and college application workshops, advisory services, college tours and Last Dollar Grant, Crosby Scholars now serves more than 11,600 students per year.

Name: Finish the FAFSA Project

Scope: Statewide

Contact: Alex Granados (agranados@ncseaa.edu), Associate Director for Communications, NC State Education Assistance Authority

About: The FINISH the FAFSA Project is a free service to public high schools in North Carolina that tracks the status of FAFSA completion rates in the state.  Through cooperative efforts with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, a match is made through a database between high school graduating seniors and FAFSAs filed. School counselors and other college access professionals working with seniors are able to monitor FAFSA completion status through a secure database.  No personal information such as income or social security information is accessible.

Name: GEAR UP

Scope: National and Statewide

Websites: https://www.northcarolina.edu/gearup

About: The Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) project is a national college access initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education. To participate in GEAR UP, a school must have a student body comprised of at least 50% free and reduced price lunch enrollment.  The federal goal of GEAR UP is to significantly increase the number of students in disadvantaged communities who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.

The University of North Carolina System was awarded a seven-year grant in 2012 for GEAR UP NC to provide college access and readiness services. GEAR UP NC directly engages students in partner schools starting in the 7th grade year, providing these students with academic readiness and college access support over the course of their middle and high school careers. Since 2012, GEAR UP NC has also engaged 12th grade students in partner high schools with college application and financial aid application support.

Name: North Carolina Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NCASFAA)

Scope: Statewide

Website: https://www.ncasfaa.com

About: The North Carolina Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NCASFAA) provides training and professional development opportunities to the financial aid community, advocates on behalf of financial aid professionals, and strives to promote educational access and choice for students.

Name: North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority

Scope: Statewide

Website: http://www.ncseaa.edu/

About: North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA) provides a number of services to the State of North Carolina including administration of the state’s four postsecondary educational grant programs, the “529” National College Savings Program, and the State scholarship grants for parents sending children to private K-12 institutions. NCSEAA also promotes access to financial aid resources through outreach activities with school counselors, financial aid administrators, and college access professionals.

Further research and literature

Kofoed, M. (2014). To Apply or Not to Apply: FAFSA Completion and Financial Aid Gaps. Retrieved November 27, 2019 from http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2353846.

National College Access Network. (2017). An Analysis of the Relationship Between School District Poverty and FAFSA Completion in June 2016 and June 2017. Washington, DC: National College Access Network.

National College Attainment Network. (n.d.). Why Invest in Increasing FAFSA Completion? Retrieved December 1, 2019, from https://www.ncan.org/news/news.asp?id=480053

National College Attainment Network (2019, April 4). NCAN Report:Survey Data Strengthen Association Between FAFSA Completion and Enrollment. Retrieved October 5, 2025, from https://www.ncan.org/news/news.asp?id=456025

National College Attainment Network (2024, January 11). NCAN Report: In 2023, High School Seniors Left Over $4 Billion on the Table in Pell Grants. Retrieved November 5, 2024, from https://www.ncan.org/news/662266/NCAN-Report-In-2023-High-School-Seniors-Left-Over-4-Billion-on-the-Table-in-Pell-Grants

Reeves, R. V., & Guyot, K. (2018, May 7). FAFSA completion rates matter: But mind the data. Retrieved November 13, 2019, from https://www.brookings.edu/research/fafsa-completion-rates-matter-but-mind-the-data/.

Weissman, S.. (2025, August 4). Too Many Students Think They’re Ineligible for Financial Aid. Retrieved January 12, 2026, from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/financial-aid/2025/08/04/too-many-students-think-theyre-ineligible-financial-aid.