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Building off a law last year guaranteeing students information about the FAFSA, advocates are pushing to go a step further and require all Massachusetts students to apply for financial aid.

A bill filed by Reps. Andy Vargas and Chyna Tyler and Sen. Jo Comerford (H 1467 / S 921) would require all high school students to complete the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA), unless an eligible student, their parent or guardian, or the school district submits a waiver.

“This bill is about making sure that every student understands that college is even a possibility for them,” Vargas said. “I was lucky that I had a parent that would drag me out … and make sure that I was going to visit different college campuses. But not every student has that, and so this bill ensures that there's a conversation that happens.”

An estimated 57% of high school seniors in Massachusetts will complete the FAFSA in 2025, according to the National College Attainment Network. For students from low-income families, there's a completion rate just below 40%, compared to non-low income students who complete the FAFSA at a rate closer to 70%.

“If we can close the completion gap with implementing a policy like this, it really just seems like a logical, rational thing for us to proceed with,” Femi Stoltz, policy director of uAspire, said.

Thirteen states require FAFSA completion as a prerequisite for high school graduation, including neighboring states Connecticut, New Hampshire and New York.

“All of the mandatory FAFSA states outperform the rest of the country in year-over-year change in public high school FAFSA completion, all of them,” Stoltz said.

An economic development law passed last year included language ensuring information about forms of financial aid and postsecondary options is provided to high school students prior to graduation.

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