FAFSA Finish Line

The Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education (ACPE) was identified as the entity to lead the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Completion Initiative in Arizona.  Through this Federal initiative the U.S. Department of Education permits the Commission to disclose limited information about individual students' FAFSA application status to authorized high school and district personnel, empowering high school personnel to provide help for a student to complete their FAFSA.

How Does FAFSA Finish Line Work?

An authorized individual (from a high school or district office), receives access to student level information on FAFSA completion statuses.  Each cohort of Senior students is securely matched to FAFSA data files to identify the status of the student’s application, such as “complete,” “not complete,” or “missing signature(s)”.  Knowing the FAFSA completion status allows school personnel to provide targeted assistance to students and increase successful completion rates.

FAFSA Finish Line Results

After the first 3 months of the 2017-2018 FAFSA cycle, 25 of the FAFSA Finish Line high schools who actively used the reports had completed 3,034 FAFSA’s.  The same 25 high schools completed 2,805 FAFSA’s during the first three months of the 2016-2017 FAFSA cycle.  These 25 high schools saw an 8.2% growth of complete FAFSA’s over the prior year.

How Can I Participate in FAFSA Finish Line?

Interested high schools or district administrators must sign a data-sharing agreement with the ACPE, agreeing to comply with required oversight, privacy, data security, and non-disclosure policies as outlined by the ACPE and the U.S. Department of Education.

Authorized individuals will then complete a User Agreement and be given a User ID and secure access to an online portal in order to retrieve their cohort data.  A user guide and training is provided.

For more information, please contact the ACPE at 602.258.2435 or email [email protected].