Ecosystem members convened at the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, to discuss a citywide collective FAFSA completion effort. School District of Philadelphia's Office of Postsecondary Readiness and the U.S. Department of Education shared key FAFSA improvements, programming and resources for completing FAFSA, which opened on November 21. CASE members met in their action teams to strategize, share and develop concrete methods for delivering stronger citywide FAFSA completion and renewal outcomes for the '24 - '25 school year.
Cathey White, Director of the Office of Postsecondary Readiness from the SDP presented on FAFSA completion efforts including the January 8 kickoff event, pop up events through May, and monetary incentives for application completion.
Laura Keane, Strategy Advisor with the U.S. Department of Education, joined us to share key FAFSA application updates, including new resources that are in place to support students, families and practitioners.
Sarah Hollister, CASE Steering Committee member and Senior Director of Higher Education Programs and Career Readiness with the City of Philadelphia, facilitated further FAFSA discussion at the action team level with the following prompts:
What have you planned so far to support FAFSA completion?
What supports do you need to be successful?
Any gaps, challenges, barriers identified for this group?
Resources for Practitioners:
2025–26 Counselor Resource for Completing the FAFSA Form — Provides counselors and advisors with information and resources to help guide students and their families through the FAFSA form.
2025–26 FAFSA Preview Presentation — Provides financial aid administrators, advisors, and counselors with reference tools for staff trainings and financial aid nights. - contains screenshots which highlight changes to the online 2025–26 FAFSA form.
2025–26 FAFSA Prototype — The tool provides the financial aid community an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the FAFSA user experience.
Updated information and outreach tools for counselors, college access professionals, and other advisors can be found in the Financial Aid Toolkit.
Resources for Students & Families
“Who’s the Parent on the FAFSA Form?” Wizard—A new, stand-alone tool to help students and families determine who will need to provide contributor information on the 2025–26 FAFSA form prior to starting the application.
“Creating Your StudentAid.gov Account” Page—A new resource that explains what families and partners need to know about creating a StudentAid.gov account.
Pro Tips for Completing the FAFSA Form—Updated tips for preparing to complete and submit the FAFSA form - also be linked from the StudentAid.gov Dashboard to promote easier access for students and their required contributor(s).
Federal Student Aid Estimator—The tool provides an estimate of the 2025–26 Student Aid Index and Federal Pell Grant eligibility calculation.
FAFSA Support in Other Languages – A set of FAFSA guides and access to interpreter services for non-English speakers in 10 most common languages besides English and Spanish – 7 are there, 3 coming soon.
Federal Student Aid YouTube Channel: FAFSA Videos—Updated videos to help students and families understand the importance of the FAFSA form, who is a FAFSA contributor, and what happens after submitting the form.
Recently released guidance for contributors without an SSN
Upcoming Action Team Meetings