MANSFIELD — In December 2021, just 10.3 percent of the senior class at Mansfield Senior High School had completed their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form.
A year later, that figure jumped to 23.1 percent.
Now, with about two and a half months until the application deadline, the application rate continues to climb.
“Our numbers now are closer to 40 percent of our senior class and we’re still pushing,” said Effie James, coordinator of Mansfield Senior High’s Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) program.
Those numbers helped Mansfield win an American College Application Campaign School of Excellence award this year. Senior High was the only Ohio school to receive the honor.
GEAR UP is a grant-funded program designed to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.
In November 2021, Mansfield City was one of six Ohio school districts selected to receive grant funding for the program. The district was allocated $1.9 million in federal grant funding to keep the program going for seven years.
James said his goal is to ensure that graduating high schoolers can articulate their career goals with a specific pathway and greater understanding of what it takes to get there.
If a student’s goals include post-secondary education, filling out the FAFSA is a key first step. Students must complete the FAFSA to qualify for federal grants or student loans. Many colleges also require a FAFSA application to qualify for institution-based financial aid.
The application is also notoriously complex. To complete it, students need financial information about themselves and their families, including tax returns, bank account information and investment statements.
James said students often don’t realize they need to fill out the FAFSA. Once they do, the complexity makes it easy to give up.
“So many students want to go to school and then once they realize they’re ready and they’re motivated, there’s no money left because they didn’t do the FAFSA,” James told members of the Mansfield City School board on Tuesday.
“Then they get into doing it and it becomes difficult and they say, ‘Well, just forget it.'”
While it’s typically associated with college, James said the FAFSA can also help students get financial aid for technical and trade school programs.
“Once you do the FAFSA, it opens up your options for what you can do,” James said.
“The misconception is that you have to pick a school or know you’re going to college before you fill out the FAFSA.”
Increasing the school’s FAFSA completion rate was one of the GEAR UP team’s primary objectives. James and advisors Ai’Layshia Williams and Malon Samuel have held two FAFSA nights, a couple of ACT boot camps and a college application workshop this year.
“We do classroom workshops. (Williams and Samuel) have kids constantly in their resource room, sometimes talking, sometimes working, sometimes doing a mixture of both,” James said.
“They have created relationships with our students. When they see these two, they think about their future.”
GEAR UP will host its second “Tyger Signing Day” on May 10. The event recognizes seniors with post-secondary plans, whether they include college, trade school, military enlistment or joining the workforce. The event is open to parents, the community and all high school students.
“We want our students to see other students preparing for their future,” James said.
There were 17 students involved during the inaugural signing day last year; there are currently 36 signed up for this year.
“Our goal is 50,” James said. “We got lofty goals for our GEAR UP program, but with the support of the district and the community that’s coming around, we’re expecting great things.”
