The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, more commonly known as the FAFSA, is a critical form for anyone who wants help paying for higher education.
But Governor Gretchen Whitmer says Michigan’s FAFSA completion rate was only about 56% last year.
Whitmer is promoting an effort to boost that to 75% in 2020.
At Battle Creek Central High School Monday, Whitmer sat in a circle with students, urging them to pursue an education even if they don't know what they want to be yet.
She encouraged them not to skip the FAFSA, which helps students receive not only federal student loans but grants.
Whitmer says Michigan students who didn't complete the FAFSA last year missed out on a lot of financial aid.
“Right now we’re leaving about $100 million on the table last year. This is money that’s standing between kids and getting a degree,” Whitmer said.
Whitmer is urging schools to aggressively promote the "FAFSA Challenge," an effort to boost the application completion rate.
“In the budget, unfortunately, I’m not going to be, I don’t think, putting monetary incentives, but we do have other incentives built in. This is a contest and we’re hoping that we can boost our percentage of applications,” she added.
Whitmer says she expects about 500 schools to take part in the friendly competition.
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