Sixty-eight percent of freshmen who filled out the 2014-15 Free Application for Federal Student Aid only applied to one college.

This is an improvement from the 80 percent of students who listed they were only applying to one school on the 2008-09 FAFSA, according to a press release from the United States Department of Education.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in the release that by focusing on only one school, students run the risk of being turned down for admission. He added that the students might also lose out on better financial aid and educational opportunities from other schools.

“That one school might be the right fit, but why take a chance? Why not consider multiple schools and increase your options and opportunities?” Duncan said in the release.

The FAFSA takes about 20 minutes to complete if students have the proper documents ready, according to the release. The government provides about $130 billion a year in federal student aid, which includes Pell Grants for low-income families and federal student loans.

The White House announced in September that the FAFSA will be available in October rather than in January, which will make the process easier and available earlier, according to the release.

Here are other highlights from the latest Federal Student Aid Data Center quarterly updates, according to the release:

• Students are filing applications earlier than in previous years. In the 2014-15 academic year, 43 percent of applicants filed in the first quarter of the application cycle compared to 37 percent in the 2006-07 academic year.
• More applicants are using the IRS’s Data Retrieval Tool (DRT), with 58 percent of independent applicants having used it in 2014-15 and 46 percent of parents of dependent applicants having used it. Every year for the past three years, usage of the DRT has increased by 6 percent for independent applicants and 7 percent for parents of dependent applicants.
• However, millions of students and parents still file their FAFSA before their tax information is ready to be transferred with the DRT. Next year, FAFSA will be filed in the fall, allowing a majority of students to use earlier tax information and the DRT for their applications — making the whole process easier and simpler to complete.

• Enrollment in Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Plans continues to increase, with more than 4.2 million Direct Loan borrowers enrolled in IDR plans as of September. This is a 50 percent increase from September 2014 and a 147 percent increase from September 2013.
• The rate of delinquent payments of 31 days or more has decreased from 24 percent of loan recipients in active repayment on Sept. 30, 2014 to 21.7 percent a year later. Similarly, the percent of 31-day or greater delinquencies by total dollar balance fell from 18.1 percent on Sept. 30, 2014 to 16.4 percent a year later.

Published on November 29, 2015 at 8:48 pm

Contact Sara: smswann@syr.edu | @saramswann