"You Cannot Change Policy Without Community Input and Change": Passing a Mandatory FAFSA Completion Policy

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: High School–to–College Transitions: Are We Building Bridges or Borders? Studying the Policies and Practices That Shape the Transition to College

Abstract

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) provides access to financial aid for college/vocational school. Students who complete it are more likely to enroll in and persist through college but funds often go unused due to numerous barriers disproportionately affecting low-income families of color. This mixed-methods study uses Arnstein’s (1969) Ladder of Citizen Participation to explore the process of adopting a mandatory FAFSA graduation requirement in a predominantly low-income Black and Latinx Northeastern city. Findings suggest that the process by which the policy was introduced was rushed and did not include voices of community members revealing limits of citizen participation. The district engaged in “manipulation” and “placation” of the community and did not achieve citizen control on this issue.

Author

• Elisabeth Kim, Rutgers University - Newark