A common sense policy that passed both the House and Senate last year only to fall apart at the end is back. Senate Bill 82, authored by Sen. Jean Leising (R-Oldenburg), would require high school seniors to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). It passed the Senate last Tuesday 30-19. The Indiana Chamber will keep strongly advocating for this legislation to be adopted because increasingly our economic prosperity is dependent on having more highly skilled and educated workers. Right now, all the numbers are trending in the wrong direction in terms of postsecondary participation, and there’s some suggestion that the state is losing expansion opportunities and the jobs that come with them because we don’t have the robust talent pipeline needed.
Some alarming numbers stress the urgency. Hoosier students and families lost as much as $65 million in available student aid grants that were left on the table because way too many students are not filling out FAFSA to become eligible for that aid. Indiana has one of the lowest FAFSA completion rates in the nation, which is contributing to a lower portion of our adult workforce with any kind of postsecondary degree. FAFSA completion not only makes a student eligible for financial aid for four-year bachelor’s degrees, but it makes you eligible for funding for associate’s degrees, certificates and the entire gamut of postsecondary credentials and degrees.
In the last few years, Louisiana passed a FAFSA requirement and went from worst to first in FAFSA filings and is reaping the benefits of that. There is no cost to this – and it works. It’s time for Indiana to get this done.
Jason Bearce is vice president of education & workforce development for the Indiana Chamber. He has been with the organization since 2018 and previously held senior leadership positions at the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and Indiana Department of Education.
