We are excited to announce the winners of the 2020 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 April 24, 38.7% of Florida public high school seniors 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 $155 million in Pell Grant dollars.
Through the end of April, 153 schools in 50 Florida counties increased the percentage of seniors who completed the FAFSA by at least five percentage points over last year.
Districts and schools in Orange, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Glades, Sarasota, Charlotte, and Osceola counties won top honors as the highest performers:
MVP (Highest FAFSA completion rate through April 24, 2020)
Large School: Suncoast Community High School, Riviera Beach, Palm Beach County
Medium School: School For Advanced Studies – South, Miami, Miami-Dade County
Small School: Acceleration East, Orlando, Orange County
Large District: Sarasota County Schools
Small District: Glades County School District
Most Improved (Compared to last year, through April 24, 2020)
Large School: Tohopekaliga High School, Kissimmee, Osceola County
Medium School: Professional & Technical High School, Kissimmee, Osceola County
Small School: Florida Southwestern Collegiate High School, Punta Gorda, Charlotte County
Large District: Osceola County School District
Small District: Glades County School District
The top five contenders in each of these categories are named in the Florida FAFSA Challenge Leaderboard.
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!
RELATED ARTICLES:
FASFA Challenge deadline extended through end of April
Finishing FAFSA season strong: Where Florida stands with one month left in the Florida FAFSA Challenge