Students are leaving financial aid dollars on the table. That’s preventing some from enrolling in colleges they don’t realize they can afford.
“Often they don’t know, or are confused by, the options,” said James Applegate, a visiting professor at the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University and an expert in college access.
Last year, some 661,000 low-income high school graduates failed to cash in on $2.6 billion in financial aid because they didn’t complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
