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Published on January 21, 2025
Arizona Boosts FAFSA Filings with Free Spring Training Tickets Incentive, Seeks to Reverse Low Completion RatesSource: Unsplash/Mick Haupt

The quest to boost FAFSA completion among Arizona's high school seniors is gaining momentum with a robust collaboration between the Arizona Board of Regents and the Cactus League, this unique partnership is offering free Spring Training baseball tickets to students filing their Free Application for Federal Student Aid, according to a statement obtained by 12news.com.

In a move championed by Governor Katie Hobbs, January has been dubbed ‘FAFSA Action Month’ in an effort to encourage participation which has been relatively low in the past, last year only 45% of high school seniors in Arizona completed the FAFSA, ABOR's director of FAFSA & college access initiatives, Julie Sainz, noted that students missed out on over $100 million in Pell Grant funds because they did not complete the application, the state of Arizona is aiming to reverse this trend by offering up to four free baseball tickets and it is already bearing fruit with the completion rate already at 15.3% by January 13 as opposed to a mere 18% by April the previous year, as reported by 12 News.

Building upon the successful measures of the past, the Cactus League and ABOR are collaborating for a third consecutive year, with ABOR Chair Cecilia Mata stating, "FAFSA is every student’s ticket to education success," and emphasizing its importance in immediate postsecondary institution enrollment, detailed in a news release from azregents.edu. Cactus League Executive Director Bridget Binsbacher echoed the sentiments, affirming the partnership's role in fostering educational attainment for Arizona's youth.

A myriad of resources have been made available to assist with the FAFSA process, including virtual support, FAFSA workshops, and specialized tools such as CollegeReadyAZ.com, which offers text message support, a dedicated FAFSA hotline, and even personalized appointments, to overcome challenges faced last year like technical glitches, and these efforts to guide students and their families through the financial aid landscape have seen promising results with a significant increase in the creation of FAFSA IDs for 2025 accounting for 40% of incoming college students, a marked improvement from the situation in prior years where Arizona languished at 49th nationally in FAFSA completion, the initiative aims to ensure the state does not remain behind its peers in higher education funding, according to azregents.edu.

The deadline for the FAFSA application this academic year is June 30, underlining the urgency of engagement in the matter, and with Spring Training's opening day slated for February 20, students have another compelling reason to act swiftly, making it a much needed and strategic push towards increasing college access for Arizona’s future workforce.