We would like to express our gratitude to all of our MASFAA colleagues who volunteered your time for FAFSA Day 2011. There were 356 volunteers in total and I know your assistance made a difference for families at numerous sites across Massachusetts. I think most of you would agree that we needed every one of you!

This year we served over 1500 students and 2419 attendees overall at 26 sites. We had to cancel two sites this year, Marlborough High School and Bunker Hill Community College, and postpone another, Northeast Metro Technical High School in Wakefield, due to snow. With two cancelled events and two events held much later than in past years our final numbers were slightly down from last year (1700 students served in 2010).

Despite this, the event was a great success. Most sites had computer access for families, allowing them to submit the FAFSA before leaving the event. Our goal was FAFSA completion and we achieved this for most families this year. We also saw that the online form has been noticeably simplified from years past and this made it easier for families to complete in a shorter time frame. This is especially true for lower income families, the population that these FAFSA simplification policies were meant to help. In fact, we already received our key findings from this year and they indicate that over three-fifths (61%) of participants were from the target audience. We have also done very well in attracting Hispanic participants as well as participants from families earning less than $40K a year.

We tried some new things this year and learned lessons as well. One FAFSA Day event in Lawrence was held during the school day and was attended mostly by students. We worried that perhaps the students would not have the information necessary to complete the forms without their parents. Our worries did not come true and there were 130 students who submitted a FAFSA that day. We credit Lawrence High School and GEAR Up for their creativity in suggesting this and their work to prepare students ahead of time for this school day event. This is something we will look to continue in the future.

We decided to spread out the events this year and held one event as late as March 6 at Pine Manor College. We had heard many times that some students, who are not applying to the most selective colleges, are not thinking about financial aid until later in the year. To serve this population, some said, we should hold FAFSA Day events later than the January/early February timeframe. The two events that we held after February 15 this year were not so well attended. In the future we think we will continue to hold FAFSA Day in the January/February timeframe, making sure to include information on our website about ways to receive FAFSA assistance after the events for those who may need it.

We are so pleased to share these results and thank you again for your commitment to the families in MA that appreciate your help in making the process of applying for financial aid a manageable one.

Julie Shields-Rutyna, Beth Feinberg, and Sue Sullivan
Tri-Chairs of FAFSA Day Massachusetts