We are excited to announce the winners of the 2023 Florida FAFSA Challenge, a statewide campaign to increase the proportion of high school seniors completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
As of March 31, 33.5% of Florida public high school seniors have completed a FAFSA and are one step closer to getting the money needed to pay for education beyond high school. According to an FCAN analysis, this translates to an estimated $330 million in Pell Grant dollars.
Through the end of the FAFSA challenge, 171 schools and 10 districts have increased the percentage of seniors who completed the FAFSA by at least five percentage points over last year. Nationwide, Florida is currently 48th in FAFSA completion, which is approximately the same rank as last year. Although Florida fell short of its FAFSA Challenge Goal, almost 1,500 more 12th graders completed the FAFSA than last year!
The highest-performing schools and districts were:
MVP (Highest FAFSA Completion Rate through March 31, 2023)
Large School: Suncoast Community High School (District: Palm Beach / City: Riviera Beach)
Medium School: New World School of the Arts (District: Miami-Dade / City: Miami)
Small School: International School of Broward (District: Broward / City: Hollywood)
Large District: Brevard
Small District: Glades
Most Improved (Highest increase in FAFSA completion compared to March 2022)
Large School: Parrish Community High School (District: Manatee / City: Parrish)
Medium School: Crooms Academy of Information Technology (District: Seminole / City: Sanford)
Small School: Somerset Preparatory Academy High School (District: Miami-Dade / City: Homestead)
Large District: Pinellas
Small District: Franklin
The top five MVP contenders among Schools and Districts are recognized in the Florida FAFSA Challenge Leaderboard.
This year’s FAFSA Challenge winners will be honored during an April 28 Awards Luncheon at the 2023 Talent Strong Florida Summit.
How did your school or district do?
Curious about how your school or district fared in the Florida FAFSA Challenge? You can find out on FCAN’s Florida FAFSA Challenge Dashboard, which includes data for over 600 public schools in the state.
FAFSA completion data for all schools and districts – including all those that exceeded the 5% goal – are available. The dashboard allows users to view school, district, and state-level FAFSA completion rates using nine different filters and search options.
Chart: FAFSA completion among 12th graders attending Florida public schools
The Florida FAFSA Challenge is part of College Ready Florida, a suite of statewide initiatives designed to build a college-going culture and help all students — especially low-income students — continue their educations beyond high school.
FCAN applauds all schools and districts that committed to helping more graduating high school seniors access financial aid for college and congratulates those that boosted their FAFSA completion rates this year!
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