Never mind the performance gap: More Northeast Louisiana students apply for college aid
Sabrina LeBoeuf
Monroe News-Star
Though the pandemic has created new challenges for high school students in the past two school years, the number of Northeast Louisiana students hoping to attend college is going up.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as FAFSA, allows college students to apply for financial aid as soon as their senior year of high school. Compared to last year, FAFSA completion has increased 10%, meaning more Louisiana students are ready for college and applying for financial aid.
This, despite declining test scores among high school students across the board that have been attributed to disruptions in teaching due to COVID-19.
According to Stephanie Hernandez Marcum, executive director of Postsecondary Readiness with the Louisiana Department of Education, high school seniors must either submit a FAFSA or file a waiver to graduate. When comparing FAFSA submissions from the 2021-22 school year to 2020-21, most high schools in Northeast Louisiana saw an increase in FAFSA submissions.
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At the district level, Madison Parish was one of the top five school systems in the state with the highest percentages of FAFSA completions with 48% of its senior class finishing the application. The other ranking school systems saw 64% of the senior class completing the FAFSA in Sabine Parish, 50% in Livingston and Orleans and 48% in Catahoula. Madison Parish only has one high school in the district.
Though many high schools in the region saw increases in FAFSA submissions over the past year, some experienced stark decreases despite their senior classes remaining the same size.
At Wossman High School in Monroe, for example, during the 2020-21 school year, 34 seniors, or 25% of the class, submitted their FAFSA. This school year, only 20 seniors, 15% of the senior class, submitted. The numbers for completed FAFSAs were even lower. From last school year to this, the percentage of completed applications dropped from 26, 19% of the senior class, to 13 completed applications, which translates to 9% of the senior class.
In Ouachita Parish Schools, FAFSA submission and completion numbers increased at all high schools except for West Monroe High School. Last school year, 15% of the senior class submitted their FAFSA and 13% completed the application. This school year, only 12% of seniors submitted and finished their FAFSA.
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Sterlington High School, on the other hand, had the highest percentages in the school district with 46% of seniors submitting and completing the FAFSA. Last year, 27% of seniors submitted the application and 21% finished it.
Every school district in Northeast Louisiana, with the exception of East Carroll, Franklin and Madison parishes, had at least one high school with a decreased percentage of their senior class submitting a FAFSA.
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Jackson Parish was the only district in the region to have more than one high school see decreasing numbers. Both Jonesboro-Hodge High School and Quitman High School had fewer seniors submitting FAFSAs. Submissions at Jonesboro-Hodge decreased from 21% to 13%; submissions at Quitman fell from 45% to 40%.
Follow Sabrina LeBoeuf on Twitter @_sabrinakaye and on Facebook at https://bit.ly/3B8sgHo.
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