This year, the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential awarded $10 million in grant funding to school districts across Michigan as part of its Universal FAFSA challenge designed to boost FAFSA application rates in the state.
In total, 67 school districts received awards — with Comstock Public Schools, Galesburg-Augusta Public Schools and Bangor Public Schools among the recipients in West Michigan.
Comstock Public Schools was awarded $153,219.08. Assistant superintendent Jill Ansel said the district got special permission from MiLEAP to split their funding up over five years instead of using it all at once.
”That way we can bring sustainability to the process that we’re using to try to provide every opportunity we can, so students can get money for college," Ansel said.
MiLEAP's Universal FAFSA Challenge encourages all of the state's school districts to require that students complete the FAFSA to graduate, with the ability to opt out through a waiver.
To receive funding, districts had to apply and agree to adopt that completion policy. Ansel said Comstock ended up getting more funding than previously expected because not enough districts applied.
"This is a substantial amount of money, which is why we put in a special request to spread it over five years. And so it gives us about twenty-five grand a year so that we can do this five years in a row. We're very, very excited about that," Ansel said.
Ansel said the district will use the funding for a variety of events and programs, like FAFSA fill-out events that provide help completing the forms and incentives for students and parents.
"We'll do nights with food and materials and even babysitting, so parents can be part of the process if they can't find somewhere for their young children," Ansel said. "We will give them prizes if they fill it out — the students. We will pay staff to stay at night after work to complete these tasks with our students and families. We will give parent incentives so that we can get parents to come in."
Additionally, the district is planning to use the funds for activities like college tours and other activities to help students learn more about college, explore their options and understand what the FAFSA is for.
“It’s important that they become eligible for any scholarships that are available. If they don’t fill it out, there’s a barrier there and they won’t be eligible," Ansel said.
And if a student isn't sure if they want to go to college or fill out the FAFSA, Ansel said the events and opportunities will still be available to them to explore their options — and they won't be penalized for choosing not to fill out the FAFSA if a waiver is submitted.
"They could participate in all the activities that we will provide until that the end of that senior year and if that's what they decide to do, they would just put that in writing to us and we would accept that answer," Ansel said.
