Authorized Users may access Finish the FAFSA Report in ProTools, on www.CFNC.org/protools.
What is the ‘Finish the FAFSA’ Database Report?
Finish the FAFSA allows the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA) to match high school student enrollment data from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction with US Department of Education FAFSA completion data to show schools which of their seniors have completed a FAFSA and which have not. The report also includes data on which students have FAFSA errors, what those errors are, and which students have been selected for verification. No personal information is shared other than student names and FAFSA completion status.
What do schools do with this information?
School counselors who work with seniors can monitor their students who have or have not completed the FAFSA. They can advise seniors about correcting FAFSA errors or how to complete verification. A powerful combination when used with the NC First in FAFSA Tracker, school counselors can better identify ways that can support students and families to FAFSA completion.
The NC Department of Public Instruction provides a list of the seniors for each participating high school. Each senior’s name, date of birth, home address, and school code are matched with his or her FAFSA status from the U.S. Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid. Information reflected in the database includes: not submitted, submitted, completed, signed by student and parent, and whether chosen for verification.
To access the Finish the FAFSA report, authorized users must have a CFNC account. Authorized users are school-based education professionals who work one-on-one with seniors and their FAFSA completion.
Who can access the Finish the FAFSA Report?
To enable this data sharing, superintendents must sign a Data Use Agreement and designate someone in the district to have access to the data, often a high school counselor and/or college advisor. At charter schools, the Head of School must sign the Data Use Agreement. In addition an authorized user from each school must be designated at the time the Data Use Agreement is submitted. These users must have a CFNC account as an education professional.
Once the agreement is executed, the designated user can log onto a portal and see updated FAFSA completion information for every senior in their school or district. Authorized personnel have been designated by the school district administration, with access granted only to those school staff, and/or to other persons from federally designated entities, such as GEAR UP, who work directly with seniors on FAFSA completion and college access. Data access is school-specific. Finish the FAFSA is available to traditional public schools and charter schools.
96% of public schools have data sharing in-place.
To request a Data Use Agreement for your school district or charter school contact: outreach@ncseaa.edu.
Learn more:
Webinar: Introduction to Finish the FAFSA (LINK NOW INCLUDED)
NCSEAA FAQs (get link to PDF)
EdNC Article: ‘Finish the FAFSA’ makes it easier for high schools to track FAFSA completions.