Across California this spring, thousands of college-bound high-school seniors who are U.S. citizens have quietly decided not to hit “submit” on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. For many in mixed-status families, protecting undocumented parents is taking priority over chasing federal grants and loans, and counselors say those fears are already reshaping college plans, nudging students away from four-year campuses and toward cheaper local options. The pattern is now showing up in state and national numbers, and advocates warn it could deepen already-wide equity gaps.
State and federal data show an 8% drop, roughly 3,000 fewer, FAFSA submissions from high-school students in mixed-status families compared with last year, even as overall FAFSA completions in California rose about 9%, according to reporting and analysis by The Hechinger Report. That same reporting found steeper drops in some places, including nearly 500 fewer FAFSA completions at 10 Texas-border schools.
For individual students, the decision can feel brutal. “I don’t want to sacrifice my family for my possible success,” one Los Angeles senior told reporters after staring for months at the FAFSA checkbox that asks whether a parent lacks a Social Security number. He ultimately filed the form and was accepted to UCLA, but now faces roughly $45,000 a year in costs if federal aid does not come through, according to Los Angeles Times reporting on his case.
College counselors say his story is not an outlier. “Across the country, our members are hearing directly from students who are increasingly hesitant to complete the FAFSA because they’re worried about how their families’ information could be used,” Sean Robins of the National Association for College Admission Counseling told The Hechinger Report, adding that many students are delaying, rethinking or walking away from the form altogether.
Legal Rules, Lingering Doubts
On paper, FAFSA information is tightly protected. Federal rules limit how the data can be used, generally restricting it to application, award and administration purposes, and schools and agencies are required to safeguard personally identifiable information, as spelled out in the Federal Student Aid Handbook. Yet reporting by outlets such as ProPublica on efforts to cross-match tax, voter and housing records with immigration enforcement has shaken families’ faith that those lines will always hold.
California Workarounds With Trade-Offs
California does offer a state-only alternative, the California Dream Act Application, or CADAA, and the state’s aid agency has been urging mixed-status families to use it, KQED reports. Even so, CADAA filings from mixed-status families have slipped, dropping from 1,557 in April 2025 to 910 in April 2026, according to the Los Angeles Times. The state form can unlock Cal Grants and campus-based aid, but it does not qualify students for federal Pell grants or federal loans.
College Dreams On The Line
Research from the Public Policy Institute of California finds that the state’s universal FAFSA/CADAA policy initially gave application rates a lift and helped low-income students, but a rocky rollout of the redesigned federal FAFSA undercut second-year completion gains and made implementation more complicated, according to PPIC. In the current climate, counselors say many families are steering toward lower-cost options or postponing decisions altogether. “It really just comes down to individually talking to families,” one Bay Area adviser told KQED.
For students now weighing safety against financial aid, campus financial-aid offices and the California Dream Act website list specific steps, comparison tools for CADAA and FAFSA, and contacts for local support organizations. State and nonprofit partners are also running Cash for College workshops and counseling sessions in an effort to rebuild trust and reach mixed-status families before enrollment deadlines close in.
