Black teachers: How to recruit them and make them stay
Lessons in higher education: What California can learn
Keeping California public university options open
Superintendents: Well-paid and walking away
The debt to degree connection
College in prison: How earning a degree can lead to a new life
Aaliyah Eslava-Deanda is a speech pathology major at UC Irvine and the first in her family to attend a four-year college. But she didn’t always know she would get to college.
Fortunately, her high school counselor made sure she applied to college and that her family completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). As a result, she received a Cal Grant, a Pell Grant and additional scholarships that provided her with a full ride.
For students to receive a Cal Grant — which provides qualified students with up to $50,000 they don’t have to pay back — they need to submit a completed FAFSA application (of, if undocumented or nonresident students, a California Dream Act application) before March 2.
Yet, across California, thousands of high-achieving, low-income students such as Eslava-Deanda will not complete this form and may not attend college. Studies have shown that helping families complete the FAFSA leads to increased college enrollment and success. So why don’t more students complete the FAFSA?
There are many reasons:
Even the most supportive school counselor can feel frustrated with what can look like a lack of initiative or follow-through but is often fear and confusion. We worry, “If we coddle them now, then we are not setting them up for success later when we are not around?” We fear we may do them a disservice by holding their hands.
And yet, many of the most affluent students — those who have grown up knowing they would go to college and whose parents often have advanced degrees — get coddled at every step of the college admissions process, and may not even need to seek financial aid.
One of us (Daley) taught Advanced Placement physics at an elite East Coast school, where three full-time college counselors managed the college application process for 70 seniors. Teachers sent letters of recommendation directly to the counselors, who edited them. Students gave their materials to the counselor, who assembled the application and sent it in.
While much of this can seem beyond our control, it is worth asking:
What would we do if we believed that the responsibility to get kids to college was on us as counselors and educators — that if they failed to enroll, it is because we had let them fail?
The answer is, we would coddle our students who need it most: The students who may fear they don’t belong in college. The students whose families don’t know how to navigate the application process or don’t see college as a viable financial option.
For those schools courageous enough to make a difference before this year’s Cal Grant deadline, consider these steps that Southern California schools in the CARPE college access network are taking to help students and families complete the FAFSA or California Dream Act applications:
In sum, coddle your students. Help students like Eslava-Deanda and their families complete the FAFSA and understand what it means for their future. If coddling is good practice for the students with the most advantages, then surely it is good for the students with the least.
•••
Stacey Caillier is the director of the Center for Research on Equity & Innovation at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education and Ben Daley is president. The graduate school is embedded within a network of K-12 public charter schools and supports multiple privately funded networks for continuous improvement, including the CARPE college access network.
The opinions in this commentary are those of the author. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.
Legislation that would remove one of the last tests teachers are required to take to earn a credential in California passed the Senate Education Committee.
Part-time instructors, many who work for decades off the tenure track and at a lower pay rate, have been called “apprentices to nowhere.”
A bill to mandate use of the method will not advance in the Legislature this year in the face of teachers union opposition.
Nearly a third of the 930 districts statewide that reported data had a higher rate of chronic absenteeism in 2022-23 than the year before.
Comments (3)
Comments Policy
We welcome your comments. All comments are moderated for civility, relevance and other considerations. Click here for EdSource's Comments Policy.
Abby Smith 4 years ago4 years ago
This is a very insightful article. It makes you think about how we can really best help our students be successful in the future. We will have to try and implement some of these steps in the Lakeside Union School District.
Debbie Raucher 4 years ago4 years ago
I agree that FAFSA completion needs to be prioritized, but why just for high-achieving students? Students who struggle in high school can go on to be successful college students. Community colleges offer a wide range of programs for students who cannot go immediately to university and these students are in great need of financial aid as well.
Replies
Stacey Caillier 4 years ago4 years ago
Totally agree Debbie! We need to support all students in completing the FAFSA whether they are going to community college or to a 4-year college. The purpose of this op-ed was to support the final push before the FAFSA deadline for a Cal Grant on March 2nd, for which there is a minimum GPA requirement. We've found it is helpful for schools to identify the students who might miss out on a Cal Grant and … Read More
Totally agree Debbie! We need to support all students in completing the FAFSA whether they are going to community college or to a 4-year college. The purpose of this op-ed was to support the final push before the FAFSA deadline for a Cal Grant on March 2nd, for which there is a minimum GPA requirement. We’ve found it is helpful for schools to identify the students who might miss out on a Cal Grant and prioritize them this close to the deadline.
After that deadline, there is time to support all of our students to get their FAFSA or Dream Act complete. And we would hope that we’ve supported many of our students to complete these applications much earlier in the Fall, since an early start leads to greater FAFSA completion across the board. Thank you for reading and engaging with these ideas.